Stampede at Mumbai's Mithibai college, 8 people hospitalized, 3 critical
During a concert held at Mumbai's Mithibai College on Thursday night, a stampede broke out which led to severe injuries. Eight people were grievously injured and three among them are said to be critical. The injured were taken to RN Cooper Hospital and reportedly, one of the persons suffered a rib fracture. The stampede was reported at around 10:30 PM last night.
Students and others gathered to see Rapper Divine perform
The stampede started during the performance of Rapper Divine. He was performing at Colosseum, the annual festival of Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS). A student alleged that the capacity of the venue, Jashoda Rang Mandir (JRM) Ground, was around 3,000-4,000 but invites were sent to nearly 10,000 people. The disaster cell of BMC concurred with this theory and said overcrowding led to the stampede.
One girl, who had heart problem, was rushed to hospital
A student who had heart problem, got uneasy due to suffocation. She was rushed to the Cooper hospital. Sr PI Juhu Pandharinath Wavhal said the crowd got out of hand after youths from neighborhood scaled the walls to see Divine perform. His performance was halted midway. An eyewitness said the gates were reportedly closed but people rushed to enter. Many got bruises.
College said people tried to barge in
Mithibai College principal Rajpal Hande said the event started at around 8 PM and an hour later outsiders tried to barge in. "We tried telling them that entry without passes is not allowed but they still tried to force the gate open and that is when some of them fell," he said. He added students and security personnel rushed to help the injured.
Patients suffered injuries in chest and limbs: Hospital
Meanwhile, doctors of the Cooper Hospital said two women and six men were brought in. Most of them had chest injuries. Three of them are admitted in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU), said an official from the hospital. "As per the case history, patients have suffered injuries to chest and limbs due to the stampede that occurred at the college," he said.
College slammed for lack of arrangements
Notably, Darshil Shah, chairperson, Colosseum festival, said there was no stampede as such. He claimed some people in the rear created a ruckus and some had fake passes. However, on social media, the festival was slammed. Parth Bhansali, who reportedly attended the function, said the same thing happened in 2012 when passes were distributed more than the maximum capacity.
