At least 18 people were killed when a stampede broke out in the Malabar Hill area around pre-dawn when a Muslim spiritual leader's followers started thronging his house after learning about his death, the Associate Press reported.
Mourners crowded the home of Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin, the head of the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community, injuring at least 40 other people in the stampede.
According to the AP, Burhanuddin died Friday at the age of 102.
As thousands kept joining the procession every minute, to get a last glimpse of the spiritual head while it proceeded through Walkeshwar Road in South Mumbai, the route was closed for traffic to allow easy passage, the AP reported.
When the gates leading to the spiritual leader's house were closed at about 1 a.m., Singh said the stampede occurred. Many people got crushed near the gates and didn't have a way to escape as the crowds surged forward.
Singh said police at the scene were badly outnumbered by the huge number of mourners and couldn't handle the crowd management around Syedna's home, the AP reported.
"We didn't think the crowd would be so great," Singh said. "Also, it's an emotional occasion when police cannot take harsh measures to push back the crowd."
Dawoodi Bohra is a sect of Shia Muslims spread all over the world. One of the key principles of the sect is "patriotism as part of the faith," according to the Press Trust of India.
The 52nd Dai al-Mutlaq of the worldwide Dawoodi Bohra community, the leader was the eldest son of Syedna Taher Saifuddin. He succeeded his father upon his death in 1965.
He was credited with transforming Dawoodi Bohras into a vibrant community and honored with highest civilian titles like the Star of Jordan and Order of the Nile by the respective governments of Jordan and Egypt, PTI reported.
Shops and businesses owned by Bohra Muslims were closed across Mumbai on Saturday in homage to their leader.
During India's often-chaotic religious gatherings and festivals, deadly stampedes are fairly common as large crowds gather in small areas with few safety or crowd control measures.
In October, more than 110 people were killed in a stampede at a Hindu festival in Madhya Pradesh state in central India. More than 220 people were killed in a 2008 stampede at the Chamunda Devi Hindu temple inside Jodhpur's picturesque Mehrangarh Fort, the AP reported.
