Mumbai: Road overbridge crashes on rail tracks in Andheri; 6 injured  

A road over-bridge (ROB) collapsed on rail tracks in suburban Andheri amid heavy rains in the city on Tuesday morning bringing local train services of the Western Railway to a halt, an official said.

At least six passers were reportedly injured in the incident. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

Heavy overnight rains and waterlogging in many areas is suspected to be the cause of the crash of the structure, known as the Gokhale Bridge, on SV Road, which connects Andheri East and Andheri West.

There were no immediate confirmation whether the injured were commuters or pedestrians. Rescue operations continued to save those trapped under the debris.

Work was also on to remove the debris from the Western Railway tracks which blocked services in both directions, hitting hard the Mumbai commuters bound for their offices.

The Western Railway said trains were being operated between Goregaon-Virar on the northern side and Bandra-Churchgate in the southern direction, besides Harbour Line from Bandra-CST.

According to a railway spokesperson CNK David, the portion of the bridge crashed at around 7.30 am on the the southern-end of the Andheri platform numbers 7-8.

The falling bridge damaged a portion of the platform roof, blocked the railway lines and damaged the high-tension electric wires and overhead power equipments, he said.

"The restoration work is in full swing and we hope to resume normal train services in the next few hours," David said.

Mumbai's famous tiffin carriers Dabbawalas expressed their inability to operate as the train services on the Western Line were stopped.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has asked the Mumbai police commissioner to ensure smooth traffic movement and asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to increase its bus service for the convenience of commuters.

The Overhead Equipment (OHE) was damaged and a team of engineers are working to restore services, Western Railway (WR) Chief Public Relations Officer Ravinder Bhakar told PTI.

Personnel of the fire brigade, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Mumbai Police, the railway police and local ward of the BMC are at the spot and working to clear the debris and repair the damaged OHE, the civic official said.

"Incessant rains apparently caused cracks in the ROB, resulting in its collapse. Thankfully, no train was passing on the track under the bridge at that time," he said.

Several commuters faced a harrowing time as they were unable to reach their offices after the train services were stopped.

Prashant Ghag, who works at a media house in the Fort area of south Mumbai, said when he reached the Borivali station to board a Churchgate-bound local train, he came to know that there were no services.

"As I could not find any alternate mode of transport to reach my office amid the heavy rains, I had to return home," he said.

With agency inputs