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18 killed in Mumbai flood stampede
July 29, 2005

AT least 18 people, including seven children, have been killed in a stampede in India's rain-ravaged financial hub of Mumbai after rumours a city lake had burst its banks, police said today.

People in the crowded Nehru Nagar slum of the sprawling city of 15 million rushed out of their homes late yesterday in pitch darkness, fearing floods which turned out to be unfounded.
"People were already on the edge after heavy rains in the last few days and rumours had been swirling around," a police official said.

“There were rumours of a lake bursting its banks in Powai and A tsunami that led to the stampede,”
Seven people were injured in the stampede and police used loudspeakers to dispel rumours and calm the panicky residents. The latest deaths in Mumbai in the western Maharashtra state pushed the toll in the region after three days of unprecedented monsoon flooding and landslides to nearly 700 people.