Mumbai: Sudden surge in crowd caused stampede

Mumbai: Eighteen members of the Dawoodi Bohra community died and 40 others were injured in a stampede that occurred around midnight near the residence of their religious leader, Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, in Malabar Hills, Mumbai.

They were part of a crowd of more than 50,000 that had gathered to mourn the death of the Syedna. Police had expected a crowd of around 5,000 people and made arrangements.

Mourners were asked to stay away

Followers of Dawoodi Bohra leader Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin had been informed through SMS that they should not come to the Saifee Mahal (the Syedna’s residence) on Friday night.

Only around 800 close and distant relatives of the Syedna were expected at the Mahal to see the leader one last time, a senior member of the leader’s security team said on condition of anonymity.

However, the Malabar Hill police said that the crowd started to swell and by midnight had reached around 50,000 people. The Mahal’s gates were closed to keep out the teeming masses, which led to a commotion.

“We made innumerable announcements asking them to go back, but they did not listen. A little push from the crowd at both ends maximized the impact in the center. There were around 150 policemen posted, but they seemed helpless,” the security man, who was present on the scene, said.

The roads around the Mahal are narrow, curvy and on a slope, and this made the stampede worse. The funeral procession of the Syedna also saw lakhs of his followers in attendance, but was concluded without further incident. The leader was eventually laid to rest with state honours at the Raudat Tahera mausoleum after prayers led by his son and successor, Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin.

Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh said most of the deaths occurred due to suffocation as a massive crowd of mourners got stuck in the narrow lanes and the gates to Saifee Mahal were closed.

“People from all parts of Mumbai and around the city came to pay their last respects around 9 last night. The roads were narrow...It led to suffocation. It was difficult for the people to breathe,” he said.

“Some fell unconscious. Gates were closed because of which some people fell on each other. As the doctors are claiming, cause of the death was suffocation.”