By Nirmala Carvalho
Mumbai: Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay, has mourned the deaths in a stampede in Mumbai, western India.
“I am anguished and deeply pained by this tragedy. So many lives snatched away in an instant,” the cardinal told Crux on September 29, hours after at least 22 people died during a morning stampede at a train station in the city. More than 30 others were wounded after a crowd surged on a narrow overpass.
Heavy rains caused more people than usual to be on the overpass between Elphinstone and Parel stations. The stampede occurred after a few people slipped, aggravating the crowd surge.
The cardinal, whose archdiocese covers the Mumbai city, the capital of Maharashtra state and commercial capital of India, said his people were mourning those lost in the accident.
“Our prayers and condolences are with the families who have lost their loved ones in the tragedy,” said the prelate who also heads the Latin rite Church in India. “Our city is suffering due to this loss of life. May God grant them eternal rest.”
India’s national Railway Ministry is investigating the disaster, but Mumbai’s creaky infrastructure has long been struggling to meet the needs of its growing population.
Greater Mumbai – previously known as Bombay – currently has over 20 million inhabitants, over twice the number it had 20 years ago.
It is estimated over 6 million people ride the train every day in the metropolitan area, and at rush hour train carriages often carry triple the number of passengers for which they were designed.
Over 3,000 people die in accidents on the Mumbai rail network each year.
Cardinal Gracias also said the tragedy would be felt even more deeply in the city as it happened a day before Dusshera – a Hindu festival.
The cardinal said it was supposed to be a time of great joy, and now many families would feel only great pain.
“We suffer with them, and hope the Lord will give them some consolation at this time of great grief,” he added.
The archdiocese said the Church helped in providing medical assistance to the wounded – and would offer other forms of assistance. The Christian community in India’s largest city would also pray for the victims and their families.