Mumbai Building Collapse: Survivors caged in fear after collapse; death toll rises to 32
Victims of Bhendi Bazaar building crash and their neighbours recount what unfolded at the site, and how locals rallied to save as many as possible
Fourteen hours after a multi-storey building collapsed on Thursday morning, killing at least 32 people in the Bhendi Bazaar area, Sayed Jaffar succumbed to his injuries after he was pulled out from the debris.
"My elder brother had called Sayed to the tea stall for a cup of tea at around 8 am but he refused to come downstairs," said Salman Rizvi, cousin of Sayed Jaffar.
According to Rizvi, there were rumours that his cousin had called him and his relatives but it is not true. Sayed's wife, 14-year-old daughter and 17-year-old son were declared brought dead by the hospital," he said.
Rizvi, who stays in the adjacent building, said, "I had just met him yesterday (Wednesday) night. Every morning, my brother, Sayed and I have a cup of tea near our building. Today, when my elder brother called him, he refused to come. A few minutes later, we heard a loud noise and people started shouting that a building has collapsed."
While people from nearby buildings started rescuing people trapped, Rizvi found his niece. "I managed to locate and identify her after seeing a notebook with her mane on it in the debris. They lived on the second floor."
Rizvi's cousin Sayed lived with his wife and two children. Sayed's mother recently shifted to Dongri to stay with his elder brother. "We haven't told her about his death."
"Since people started calling Sayed to get his location, I guess his phone battery died. His phone was ringing for a few hours, now it is switched off."