16-year-old performed last rites of family

MUMBAI: It has been a year since 16-year-old Mohammad Afzal saw his family being buried alive under the rubble of their home at Khadi no.3 in Saki Naka. He recalls the day vividly.

Around 3.30pm, he was playing with his friends in the rain. When it started to pour, he asked his family to clear the house as they were living in a landslide-prone area.

But, what the Afzal family didn’t imagine was the magnitude of the landslide. The cliff collapsed, crushing everything in its path, including Afzal’s home.

He lost his parents, three sisters (24, 17 and 16), brother (12) and three nieces (none more than five years old). There was no help throughout the day as he rummaged through the debris, hoping for a miracle.

Two days later, he performed the last rites of nine members of his family. He got help from an uncle with whom he now lives in Saki Naka. Earning Rs80 a day, the young mason cannot afford a house of his own. Pleas to the authorities for a house have been repeatedly deferred.