Caterers take tea break minutes before building collapse, survive

An unscheduled tea break proved to be a lifesaver for a catering unit’s chef and his two employees on Thursday morning, who narrowly escaped the collapse of the Hussaini building on Pakmodia Street in Bhendi Bazaar.

Mujaheed Khan,28, a chef with Mansa caterers, and two of his assistants had been prepping the masala and vegetables for a variety of Mughlai dishes to be supplied to customers for Bakri Eid.  

“We are in the habit of drinking tea at around 8:30 am every morning but on Thursday we decided to leave early to drink tea at Almas hotel so that we could go to the market and purchase vegetables and other materials for supplying food to our customers on Bakri Eid,” Khan told DNA.

All their prep work, however, came to naught as the vessels and cooking instruments were destroyed, forcing them to inform the customers that their orders would not be fulfilled.

“As soon as we left the shop and sat in the hotel at around 8.25 am we heard the commotion and people running out of the building. We rushed to the building and tried to pull out our belongings but it was too late. We are lucky that we survived and our habit to wake up early for drinking tea saved us,” said Khan.

The Khan family has been running the catering business in the ill-fated Husaini building for the past decade. This was the first time, though, that they have been unable to complete their orders.

“We are disappointed that we had to inform our customers that we will not be able to complete their orders,” said Khan.