‘Kept screaming, were told to wait for 5 min’: 15 injured as three-storey structure collapsed in Bandra

“There was a leakage in the pipeline of the cylinder which acted as ignition, leading to a blast. Since the structure was not very sturdy, it couldn’t take the impact of the blast and collapsed to the ground,” Ambulgekar told Express.

The incident was reported around 5.55 am in the morning and the fire brigade arrived around 6.30 am. According to the MFB officials, since Bharat Nagar is a congested area, it took them some time to reach the spot. Ambulgekar said that out of the 15 persons who were trapped in the debris, four were rescued by local residents, while the remaining 11 were rescued by the MFB. The rescue operations went on for more than 7 hours with the last victim being pulled out from under the debris at around 2 pm in the afternoon.

Among the victims, Rehana Ansari, 65, and Mohamed Ansari, 68, have 50 per cent burn injuries and are in a critical condition undergoing treatment at the ICU at KEM hospital. Both of them were on the first floor where the explosion took place.

Others who have been rescued are Mohamed Lareb Irfan Khan, 8; Mustafa Ibrahim Sayyed, 51; Shabana Mustafa Sayyed, 42; Noori Irfan Khan, 35; Mohamed Irfan Khan, 50; Abdul Rehman Irfan Khan, 12; Alfiya Mustafa Sayyed, 18; Aliya Mustaq Sayyed, 16; Jaffar Jamal Khan, 111; Sharmin Shaikh, 32; Hasina Allabaksh Shaikh, 53; Asif Allabaksh Shaikh, 25; and Sadiq Allabaksh Shaikh, 28.

‘We kept screaming for help, people kept saying we should wait for five more minutes’

Haseena Allabaksh Shaikh, a resident of the first storey of the chawl, said she was trapped along with her two sons, Asif and Sadiq Shaikh, and daughter-in-law, Sharmeen Shaikh, for several hours in the debris, before they were rescued.

“I had just woken up and was getting ready for my morning namaz when the collapse took place. Everything including the upper floor’s ceiling, roof and debris came crashing on us and left us trapped in the debris. We were buried knee-deep into the debris and there was no chance for us to escape. We kept screaming ‘bachao, bachao’, and people kept saying that we should wait for five minutes more. Eventually, we were rescued nearly five hours later around 10 am,” said Haseena. All members of the Shaikh family, including Haseena, were taken to Bhabha hospital where they are recovering.

Natives of Kanpur, Mohamed Irfan Khan’s family of four — including minor Mohamed Lareb Khan (8) –were among others who sustained injuries after the collapse. Sumaiya Khan, Irfan’s cousin said, “They had been staying in this building for the past seven years. Everyone in the family was trapped for nearly two hours, before they were rescued and brought to the hospital.”

Some like Shabhana Mustafa Sayyed, whose family resided on the ground floor of the chawl, were rescued much earlier and they escaped with minor injuries. “We were all awake at the time and I was readying my daughter for her school when we heard the explosion. Soon the building crashed and as I tried to shield my daughter, a part of the ceiling fell on my elbow. Meanwhile, my other daughter got trapped within the debris. After my husband and I rescued her, we managed to quickly make our way out of the chawl with the help of the locals and neighbours,” said Shabana. All members of her family including her daughters–Alfiya (18) and Aliya (16)–remain admitted at the Bhabha hospital.
Jaffar Jamal Khan,111, had just entered the Namaz Committee Mosque for his morning namaz when a sudden explosion and crash nearby shook him. By the time he could find out what had happened, Khan suffered injuries as shards of glass from the mosque pierced through his skin.

Locals acted as first responders, saving lives

Abdul Kadar (46), an electrician, was one of the first respondents to successfully rescue multiple victims from underneath the rubble. Speaking to the Indian Express, Kadar said that around 5,30, there was the sound of a huge explosion following which he ran towards the door.

“I could see glass from the masjid strewn everywhere. There was an iron door fallen to the side and I couldn’t understand what was happening. I could hear the noise of a girl screaming for help and I went running to my friend Mustafa’s house. His daughter was screaming for help. The mother had an injury on her hand, which I tied tightly with a dupatta to stem the bleeding, since it was torn. I then called for help from her brother to take her to the hospital,” Kadar said.

“Then there was another elderly woman screaming for help from the first floor of her house. So, I grabbed an aluminium stepladder from my house and went to help her, and soon after, the fire brigade arrived,” he added.
Another local, Maqbool Sheikh, recalls seeing smoke coming out from both the houses early in the morning. “Ten minutes later, there was a loud blast, and we rushed to the spot. When we went in with others, we could hear a voice from inside saying, ‘I’m here.’ At first, we didn’t realise because we were busy clearing the debris, but later we could clearly hear someone calling out,” he said.