‘Heard screams under the rubble’: How Kurla residents used their bare hands to dig out neighbours

Heavy rain triggers landslides in Ghatkopar; seven killed, including three children, while seven others sustain injuries as hillside debris crashes onto houses. Express photo by Deepak Joshi

“We could hear screams from under the rubble. We didn’t think about anything else and jumped into the debris and started pulling out those trapped,” Hussain told The Indian Express.

The landslide was reported to the BMC disaster management cell at 3.48 am. Personnel from the National Disaster Response Force, Mumbai Fire Brigade and BMC were subsequently deployed.

But the terrain posed a challenge. Ambulances and cranes could not reach the site, forcing rescuers to climb through steep and narrow lanes. The fire brigade reached the spot around 5 am, followed by the NDRF and civic teams.

By then, local residents had spent nearly an hour digging through the debris.

“Houses were buried under rubble, stones and mud. We had to use a shovel to manually dig a passage through the debris, from where the victims were pulled out. During the rescue, Sohel was hit on the head by the corner of a rock, while Sajid and Naimuddin sustained spinal injuries after a portion of their roof fell directly them,” Hussain said, referring to those who were rescued — Sajid Ansari, 16, Sohel Ansari, 18, and Naimuddin Iqbal Khan.

Residents had to carry the injured on their shoulders down the hill as vehicles could not navigate the narrow, winding lanes. They were initially taken to a private hospital and were later shifted to Rajawadi and Bhabha hospitals.

“The private hospital refused to admit them without an advance payment, and the expenses were coming to nearly Rs 9,000 per day. We could not afford such an expensive hospital and had to rush them to Bhabha Hospital, which was around 30 minutes away,” said Ahmed Ansari, another resident.

He said residents managed to rescue around 12 people, including two-year-old Aban Arif Shaikh, who died on the way to Rajawadi Hospital after private hospital allegedly refused treatment.

Another resident, Tarannum Ali, 50, was among those pulled out by neighbours. She said 12 members of her family were inside their shanty when the landslide struck.

“We were asleep when the roof came crashing down. We couldn’t see anything because it was pitch dark. Within half an hour, our neighbours came and pulled us out,” Ali said.