‘Didn’t see any cracks in structure’
MUMBAI: Mohammed Siddiqui was returning home with a packet of milk on Wednesday night when he heard a loud rumbling sound. He couldn’t believe his eyes that the ground-plustwo storeyed building, where he was residing with his family, had collapsed.
The Malad resident lost nine of his family members including his wife Rahisa Bano, who had asked him to get milk for the next day’s breakfast. He lost his 45-year-old brother Shafiq Md Saleem, sister-in-law—ishrat Bano Shafiq and six of their children including a 1.5-year-old toddler. Tahes Shafik, 12, who was the last to be lifted from the rubble had already succumbed to head trauma. “Within just 15 minutes, the building collapsed, and I lost my family members. I tried to look for my brother and his family but couldn’t find anyone under the debris,” recalled Siddiqui, while waiting to collect the bodies of his deceased family members at the civic-run Bhagwati Hospital, Borivli on Thursday afternoon.
Siddiqui survived with his 17-year-old son Zunaid Rafik whom he had adopted years ago when the teenager lost his parents. “He does a part-time job at a medical store, so he was at work when the building collapsed. Or else, I would have lost him too,” said Siddiqui.
He said, they lived there for seven years, but never observed any cracks in the walls or tilting of the building. “We didn’t know if the building was dilapidated or dangerous to live in. Or else, I would have shifted somewhere else,” he said.
Rapid antigen tests were conducted on all the bodies as per rules before performing autopsies. Siddiqui has not only lost his family but also his house and belongings. He doesn’t know where to go with his son. All the documents have been lost in the disaster. “I have kept my son at a neighbour’s house. After performing the last rites of my family members, I will have to look for a house to stay in. I don’t know where to begin,” he said.