Mumbai hoarding collapse: Those affected by collapse return to retrieve vehicles, belongings
Both the driver and cleaner of the tanker survived with minor injuries, he said.
3 min read
A police officer said vehicles will be returned to their respective owners once due foramlities are completed; (right) Ejaz Ansari visits the spot to take his bike. (Express File Photo)Minutes after BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani visited the hoarding crash site in Ghatkopar and announced that the search operations had been called off on Thursday morning, survivors of the mishap started to visit the spot to take their vehicles and other belongings back.
“My elder brother, Javed, works as a salesman and we only have one two-wheeler (Activa) at home. On Monday, Javed was at the petrol pump to refuel when the incident occurred. He sustained injuries and somehow escaped from the spot. Since then we have been looking for a way to get our bike back,” said Tousif Shaikh.
After filing a report with the Pant Nagar police, this is Shaikh’s second visit to the spot.
“Earlier when I had come, our bike was still trapped inside and the rescue operation was underway. Since it was announced that the operation has been stopped, I have come back to get the bike. The two-wheeler which we had bought using all our savings plays a huge role in procuring our daily needs.”
The police officials deployed at the spot stated that since the announcement, people have been constantly making rounds to the spot to check whether their vehicle was removed from the debris.
An officer said, “The vehicles will be handed over to them after due formalities are completed at the police station.”
Another survivor Ejaz Ansari, who also visited the spot to take his bike on Thursday, said, “I am alive today because of a tank full of tar that was parked at the station.”
Ansari, who works as a delivery agent, said, “I waited at the petrol pump because it started raining heavily. As I was still getting wet, I went and stood behind the tanker, when the hoarding collapsed.”
He further added that it got completely dark under the hoarding and as he could not see anything, he just followed a ray of sunlight appearing from one corner and came out of it. “I have come to pick my bike. I work as a delivery agent and half of the time I am on my bike delivering goods. So it is the most essential part of my life because I feed my family from it,” Ansari said.
In the meantime, the owner of the tanker, Ashok Gaikwad, was at the crash site and was seen transferring tar to another tanker. “The tar was essentially to be transported to a client in Nashik on Monday. Since it got trapped under the debris, I have been making regular rounds here to check whether the metal girders have been removed from my tanker,” said Gaikwad.
Both the driver and cleaner of the tanker survived with minor injuries, he said.
Gaikwad further added, “On Thursday when I came here to check again, I saw that the tanker was out of the debris after which I got another tank, shifted the tar and transported them to our client in Nashik.”
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