Atleast 18 People Died in A Stampede at Malabar Hill, Mumbai

At least 18 people died in a stampede and about 45 injured early in the Malabar Hill area on Saturday morning, where an overwhelming crowd from the Dawoodi Bohra community had gathered to pay their last repsects to the departed spiritual leader Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin.

Officials from the municipality’s Disaster Management Cell said that the incident occurred around 1.30 a.m. Thousands of people had gathered outside the residence of Burhanuddin – Saifee House — in the south Mumbai region of Malabar Hill area, where his body was kept. Saifee House is located next to Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan's residence, Sahyadri.

The cause of the sudden stampede is not clear, but a municipal official said that most bodies were taken to Saifee Hospital nearby. “At least one body was taken to Cumballa Hill Hospital. At least 20 people who suffered injuries were treated and allowed to go,” an official said. He added than an unprecedented number of people gathered.

The Syedna died on Friday morning following a cardiac arrest. He was 102 and was the 52nd Dai al-Mutlaq (head) of Dawoodi Bohras worldwide. Community members from at least 40 countries, other than India, had gathered outside the Saifee House on Friday night.

Source : The Hindu