3 killed, 31 injured after falling off locals

Three people were killed and 31 injured when they fell off overcrowded running locals during the morning rush hour on Thursday. Trains on the Central and Harbour lines ran late and many were cancelled because of the cascading effect of Tuesday late night's twin fires at the signal cabins near Kurla.

When some object, sticking out of a Badlapur fast, hit a signal post near Nahur around 9am, the signal ladder bent towards the train and several passengers on the footboard banged against it, a railway official said.

“At least 34 people fell one after the other,” he said. “While two died on the spot, the third died later.” Railway minister Mukul Roy has announced a compensation of Rs2 lakh for families of the dead.

The railway police, however, said the dead and the injured were not from one train. The signal ladder tilted towards passing trains because of loose joints in the signal post and passengers kept falling off running trains after hitting it, an officer said. The police have filed a case of negligence against railway signal engineers.

The injured are being treated at Kalyan railway hospital, Rajawadi, Fortis and Agarwal hospitals. In the evening, a 24-year-old man travelling on the roof of a Virar-bound local was electrocuted. He is being treated at Bhabha hospital.