Elphinstone Stampede: Daily commuter recalls the incident

For Badlapur-based Anand Vaidya, it was nothing short of luck that he found himself at the exit of the Parel Bridge when the chaos on Friday morning began.

"I heard a random voice shouting, Bridge girne wala hai," but that's normal. People say such things every day on Parel bridge because of the crowd," said Vaidya. The 28-year-old who works for a public relations firm located in Indiabulls Finance Centre leaves his house at 7.30 am so that he reaches Parel by 9 am.

However, despite leaving on time and taking the regular train on Friday, he got delayed.

"After reaching Parel, the bridge was so crowded that it took me at least 30 minutes to get out. By the time, I reached the exit of the staircase I could hear people shouting and screaming. But that happens every time and I was already late. So, I didn't turn back and rushed to the office," recounted Vaidya.

Earlier, Vaidya was working with a firm located in Kamala Mills and used the same station to commute to work. He claims that the situation in the last three years hasn't changed a bit.