FIVE persons, including three women, were killed and 32 injured after major portion of a foot overbridge near a busy train station in south Mumbai collapsed on Thursday evening, officials said. The bridge, which connected the area near the ‘Times of India building’ with the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, was also used during 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. All the injured have been admitted to nearby hospitals, a disaster management cell official said. Just after the incident, Mumbai Police had tweeted: “Foot overbridge connecting CST platform 1 north end with B T Lane near ‘Times of India’ building has collapsed. Injured persons are being shifted to hospitals.

 

 

Traffic affected. Commuters to use alternate routes. Senior officers are on spot.” The deceased were identified as Apoorva Prabhu (35), Ranjana Tambe (40), Bhakti Shinde (40), Zahid Shiraj Khan (32) and T Singh (35), said police spokesperson Manjunath Shinge. Prabhu and Tambe were staff members of the G T Hospital, the official said. The tragedy comes eight months after another bridge collapsed in suburban Andheri, in which five persons were killed. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the family of the deceased and said a high-level committee will probe the circumstances under which the 40-year-old over-bridge collapsed. “The injured persons will get Rs 50,000 each and the Government will bear the cost of their treatment,” Fadnavis said, adding that officials found responsible for the incident will be booked.

 

 

“I have ordered a high-level inquiry into this unfortunate incident which puts a question mark over the authenticity of the structural audit of bridges carried out across the city,” he added.A 45-member team of the National Disaster Response Force has been rushed to the site for rescue operations. An eyewitness said that the overbridge was being used by pedestrians even as repair works happened in the morning. Several motorists were also under the bridge when it came down, which led to an increase in the number of injured, an official said. “Fire brigade personnel reached the spot immediately and rescue work is in full swing. We have appealed the motorists to avoid the D N Road to JJ Flyover section,” he said. Another eyewitness said most of the victims were walking on the overbridge on their way to the CST station when it collapsed. “Thankfully, when the bridge collapsed, it was red signal at the nearby road, otherwise several people would have been crushed,” said a taxi driver.