Two phone calls that shattered their lives

Balwinder’s brother Hardeep,who was first in family to know about the accident,rushed to the CMC Hospital and called Balwinder to reach there. Balwinder’s daughter Kulvir was taken to to the hospital in badly crushed condition. “We waited for an hour to pull out the crushed bodies from under the truck. I knew survival chances were minimum. But we rushed to CMCH only to hear the verdict of the doctor,” Hardeep,an uncle of Kulvir,said.

Jasvir,too lost his daughter,Sukhdeep,in the accident. Jasvir was inconsolable as he sat outside the civil hospital mortuary and questioned the need for get post mortem. “Is it necessary to do conduct postmortem of an already crushed body. Can’t you hand over my child in my arms? I want to hug her for the last time,” he pleaded the doctors. The medical staff had a hard time making him understand that postmortem was a part of the procedure.

Both Kulvir and Sukhdeep have two siblings each.

The other injured children come from migrant families living in Jandiali village. Anmol Pandey, who is stated to be critical,is the only brother to his three elder sisters. His father works in a rolling mill in Jagraon. His sister Shikha,a student of the same school,said,“I had gone inside the classroom while Anmol was playing out. We heard a huge thud and came running out only to find the truck on the playground and our friends beneath it. I had no idea that my brother was also there.”