Delhi building collapse: Out for work, two families come home to find children buried

The families lived on the second, third and fourth floors.

Four families living in the ill-fated building on plot number 43 at Sawan Park started the day like any other. The parents left for work, the older children for school, while the younger ones stayed at home. The five-storey house had a shop and a godown on the ground floor, and two rooms on each floor. The first floor was vacant, while families were staying on second, third and fourth floors.

# Seema (24) and her two children Shaurya (2) and Ashi (3) lived on the second floor. The bodies of the two children were among the first to be pulled out of the rubble. Neither were enrolled in school. Seema was a housewife. Her husband Umesh, who works in a wellness centre, was out for work. Her brother-in-law Laxman (25) and his wife Manju (22) were at home. Laxman died at the hospital while Manju is recuperating. The family had rented the entire second floor for Rs 12,000 a month.

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# Brothers Sumnesh (12) and Rajnesh (4) lived on the third floor. Their father, Vimlesh, a labourer, was out, as were their mother and sister, who work as domestic helps. “Sumnesh was studying and taking care of his brother Rajnesh. I couldn’t even recognise them when they were pulled out of the debris,” Vimlesh, who paid Rs 4,000 a month for a one-room home, said.

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He claimed officials from the North MCD had visited the house earlier this month and asked him to shift. “But the owner, Dharmender, forced us to stay, saying he would arrange another home for us,” he alleged.

# Munni Devi (40), lived on the third floor. Her husband Raj Bahadur, a labourer, was away. They had been staying here for three years and had four children, who were away at the time.