NEW DELHI — Commuters stampeded on a narrow, crowded railway station overpass in India’s financial capital, Mumbai, during the morning rush hour on Friday, leaving at least 22 suffocated or crushed to death and 36 injured.

The disaster was a stunning reminder of the poor safety conditions on India’s railways and the frequency of crowd-related accidents, even in rapidly modernizing metropolises like Mumbai.

Local news reports showed people crying for help, some jumping from the overpass and others hanging desperately from the footbridge’s railing.

Every day, about seven-and-a-half million commuters use the sprawling train network in Mumbai and its suburbs. Nearly 3,000 people die on the network every year, with accidents killing more than 2,100 so far in 2017.