Papa, you go ahead, I will come, let the crowd thin out: Last words of Elphinstone stampede victim

"Papa, you go ahead, I will come, let the crowd thin out," were the last word of 25-year-old Shraddha Varpe who lost her life in the tragic Elphinstone stampede on Friday morning.

Kishore Varpe, Shraddha's father, managed to cross the footbridge connecting the Parel and Elphinstone Road railway stations when a deadly stampede began.

Bhimrao Dhulap, a close relative to Varpe says Kishore was searching for her daughter frantically, only to find out her in the mortuary of KEM Hospital.

She was the one among 22 people who lost their lives in the tragic incident of the stampede.

Heartbroken Kishore sat in a corner of the mortuary waiting area, remembering his daughter's last words and crying.

Kishore and his daughter Shraddha worked at the Labour Welfare Board on the Elphinstone road. They travelled to the office together from their house in distant Vitthalwadi in neighbouring Thane district.

Also Read: Elphinstone Stampede: Death toll reaches 22; ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh announced for families of deceased

They alighted at the Parel station around 10.15 am on Friday and headed for the footbridge which was as usual overcrowded.

Suddenly it started raining, and the crowd on the bridge swelled. Kishore was propelled forward by pressing bodies, while Shraddha was stuck behind, Dhulap said.

Kishore called out to her, and she asked him to go ahead, saying she will wait for the crowd to disperse.

After getting out on another side, Kishore called her on mobile phone, but there was no response. "It was all over in ten minutes, just ten minutes," he said, sobbing uncontrollably.