Only a lucky few have survived the scare of the killer stampede at Mumbai's Elphinstone railway station, that left 23 people killed. Among them, there is 23-year-old Piyush Thakker, a Ghatkopar resident, who is so grateful to be alive.
BCCL
His relatives hold a newspaper clipping showing Piyush, buried under several others during the Elphinstone Road railway station stampede.?
"He was crushed, but look at him today,'' said his brother Rajneesh who believes he survived only due to fate.
"We both work with a garment dealer and take turns in going earlier to the workshop. On Friday, I was on the later shift,'' said Rajneesh on the morning after the stampede.
BCCL
Piyush has little recollection of how he landed in KEM Hospital.
"I possibly survived because I could still breathe air as my face was near the open railings,'' he said.
"The doctors treating Piyush said that he needs to stay on for a few days at least,'' he added. Apart from generalised pain on his chest and abdomen, he said he is feeling better than he felt a day before.
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The main problem about his daily commute, according to Rajneesh, was the time it needed to cross over from Parel to Elphinstone Road.
"This stretch alone takes me 10 to 15 minutes every morning,'' he said.
A software engineer from Dombivli, said one has to factor in 15 minutes for the station-crawl.
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