‘Walked over his body several times… before realising it wasn’t rubble’: Family, friends recall how tragedy unfolded at dargah next to Humayun’s Tomb
Shivang’s mother had died after the ceiling and wall of a two-room structure in the dargah collapsed on Friday evening. She was one of the 12 people found trapped under the debris.
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Police personnel at the collapse site on Friday. (Tashi Tobgyal)Anita Saini (59) had been worried about the spate of bad luck her younger son Rishabh had been facing — the latest being an accident. She had heard of Dargah Sharif Patte Shah in Nizamuddin, next to the Humayun’s Tomb, where a maulvi could be consulted over such matters. On Friday, she decided to head there.
Hours later, her elder son Shivang stood outside the AIIMS Trauma Centre, waiting for Anita’s body.
Shivang’s mother had died after the ceiling and wall of a two-room structure in the dargah collapsed on Friday evening. She was one of the 12 people found trapped under the debris.
“She had never visited the dargah before. She went there today because of my brother’s accident. She was worried about him,” Shivang said. Rishabh who stood close was too overwhelmed to talk.
Nadeem (29) had gone to the dargah with his friend Moinuddin (32) on their day off. “We were just looking to drive around in our scooter… When we were in Nizamuddin, Moin told me he knew a maulvi and we should pay a visit,” he said.
The two friends waited outside the dargah for at least 15 minutes while the staff cleaned the premises.
By the time they were done, a small group of people had gathered at the entryway.
“Moinuddin entered the dargah before me… I was at the back, behind some people… Soon, the wall of the room where Moinuddin had entered collapsed… I was still outside and ran towards the room’s window, shouting his name,” said Nadeem. Gripped with panic, he called some of his friends from Zakir Nagar to help. “The silence was eerie… You couldn’t differentiate between the rubble and the bodies… When we found Moinuddin, we realised we had walked over his body several times before realising it wasn’t rubble but a person,” said Shoaib, a friend of Nadeem and Moinuddin.
Ashiq (40), a bag-maker from Mustafabad, had also come to visit the dargah with his wife Rafat Parveen (33) on a rare day off he got from the factory. His trousers and feet caked with mud, Ashiq stood outside at AIIMS, hoping to visit his wife, one of the injured. He had managed to escape the falling bricks in the nick of time.
“Around 10 to 12 people were sitting inside a room at the dargah when we reached. As my wife wanted some water, I stepped out. Just then I heard a loud crash… the ceiling and wall had fallen.”
“I ran to the rear end of the building… Some locals had also arrived by then. We began digging and pulling people out. My wife was stuck under the debris. Soon, the police and ambulances started arriving,” he added.
Meanwhile, away from the hubbub and clamour of the victims’ families, sat Harish Kumar and Anita. Sometime back, their father Swaroop Chand (79) had been declared dead in AIIMS. Their mother, Rani, was critically injured and undergoing treatment at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital. “They recently began visiting the dargah… I never imagined such a thing would happen,” said Harish.
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