The foot overbridge (FOB) that collapsed outside Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) railway station carried a dubious legacy long before it claimed six lives on Thursday evening. Officially known as Himalaya Bridge, it was dubbed ‘Kasab Bridge’ after the terror attacks of November 26, 2008, in which Ajmal Amir Kasab and nine other terrorists laid siege to the city for 60 hours before being neutralised.
On the night of the attacks, after Kasab and Abu Ismail attacked CSMT station, they took the same FOB to exit the station and came out in BT Lane, sandwiched between Anjuman-e-Islam school and the Times of India building. They even fired at the TOI building.
Mumbai: Rescue work in progress after a foot overbridge near CSMT station collapsed in south Mumbai, Thursday, March 14, 2019. The bridge connected the bustling Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus railway station with the Azad Maidan Police Station. (PTI Photo)(PTI3_14_2019_000155B)
The duo then walked through BT Lane and asked for water from a family staying in a makeshift shelter on the pavement, after which they proceeded to the Cama and Albless Hospital. Additional Director General of Police Sadanand Date, who was at the time Additional Commissioner of Police (Central Region), was injured while combating the duo, who threw a hand grenade at him and his team.
Kasab and Ismail exited the hospital after this encounter and went on to attack Anti Terrorism Squad Chief Hemant Karkare, Additional Commissioner of Police (East region) Ashok Kamte and Police Inspector Vijay Salaskar, Anti Extortion Cell.
Mumbai, 14/03/2019: Major portion of Foot Over Bridge connecting CSTM station to Azad Maidan collapsed on Thursday during rush hour. Five people died in this incident. Photo: Emmanual Yogini
“The bridge that collapsed in front of CSMT station in Mumbai today was built in front of us in 1984 when I worked for The Times of India. Terrible tragedy. 5 dead; 25 injured. Railways blaming BMC. BMC blaming the Railways. The usual,” journalist and former Rajya Sabha member Pritish Nandy tweeted on Thursday night.
