Tears flow as the dust settles

While a family lost the eldest and youngest members, the other lost sole breadwinner

Tears flow as the dust settles

While a family lost the eldest and youngest members, the other lost sole breadwinner

Losing its eldest and youngest members on the same day, Fatima (70) and Tabassum (18), this family is in a state of shock. On Tuesday night, the family lost the two women in the tragedy, in Chandni Mahal, while two of the male members are still admitted in the hospital.

Tragedy-stricken: Relatives of victims of the building collapse outside
LNJP Hospital in New Delhi on Wednesday. Pic/Subhash Barolia

Mohammad Irshad, Tabassum's nephew, along with other family members, was present in the hospital when the bodies were being handed over to the bereaved family. Fatima's two sons, Feroz (30) and Nasir (40), also got injured in the accident.

"They were having dinner when the building suddenly fell down. Tabassum had wanted to be a teacher. But now, everything has shattered. We still cannot believe this has happened and they are no more with us," said Mohd Irshad.

A 31-year-old Arshad, was about to climb the stairs to his house on the first floor when death caught him unawares. He had a shop near the house from where he was returning when the ill- fated building fell down and he was crushed beneath. Arshad is survived by his wife Samina and two very young sons aged two and four.
u00a0
"He was very young and his kids do not even understand that their father will never return back home from work now. He was the sole bread winner in the family. I just cannot help wondering what would happen to his wife and children," said Mohd Abraar, a close relative.

Saved by five minutes!
Razia Begum could not believe how her life turned upside down in a minute. Just five minutes before the building collapsed in old Delhi on Tuesday, she, along with her two children, had come out of the house for some work. The next instant she saw her house collapsing. Her her husband and three other kids were trapped under the rubble. Her husband, Mohammad Sajid (41) has been admitted to the neuro-surgery ward of the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) hospital in a critical condition. Three children-Fayaz, Aakib and Ramiz-also got injured but have been declared stable. The other two children, Junaid (12) and Kaashif (9) are safe.