Mumbai: Landslide brings wall crashing on slum; family of four went to bed, only one survived

I saw my family die in front of my eyes and couldnrsquot do anything to save themrdquo said Akshay Jimur the lone survivor of his fourmember family who were among the 19 who perished after a landslide caused a wall collapse on a few houses on a hillock at Bharatnagar Mahul on Saturday night Jimur an autodriver is recuperating at Rajawadi HospitalA rescuer looks for survivors in a mudfilled house at BharatnagarThe 28yearold who got bruises on his legs and right arm said ldquoAs it was raining heavily my father who also ran an auto and I returned home by 8 pm We ate our dinner and went to sleep when suddenly two houses above us fell on ours For a while we didnrsquot know what happened I managed to extricate myself from the rubble by 1215 amrdquo But his sister Apeksha 20 mother Meena 45 and father Suryakant 47 were not that luckyAlso read Mumbai taps go dry as water treatment plant gets floodedldquoIt was all muddy and pitch dark Before the neighbours could come a live wire fell on my house Every time I tried entering the rubble of my house I got an electric shock I and a few other people tried calling our electricity companyrsquos customer care and the fire brigade but didnrsquot get any responserdquo said JimurAkshay Jimur survivorHe said the fire brigade came after 330 am and started the rescue ldquoTill then it was too late My ears are still ringing with my familyrsquos cries for help Had the fire brigade or the customer care of the electricity supplier replied in time I could have managed to save my familyrdquo said Jimur his eyes welling upHe said his parents and sisterrsquos bodies were removed around 5am6 am as he watched helplessly Seven more bodies were pulled out from the debris that included members of the Tiwari and Paradhe families said Jimur A total of 19 people died in the incident said BMCVinod Dhawale who lives barely 200 metres from the mudslide spot13yearold lone survivorWhile the entire Tiwari family lost their lives in the landslide like Jimur 13yearold Diksha Paradhe is the lone survivor of her fivemember family Diksha who is admitted in Chemburrsquos Shiv Hospital with a head injury and a fractured hand is not aware that her 10yearold brother 15yearold sister and parents are no more ldquoShe has been asking about her family We donrsquot have the heart to tell her about their demiserdquo said Suhas Gangwane a relative who reached the site by 1230 am ldquoWe tried our best to take them out of the rubble but because of the live electricity wire we could do nothing but stand stillrdquo Gangwane saidSurvivor Diksha Paradhersquos mother and sister who died in the incidentBy 3 pm extended families of Tiwari Paradhe and Jimur gathered outside Rajawadi Hospital to take the bodies of their loved ones ldquoWe are shattered I wish the authorities had acted in time We could have saved many lives and not watched them die like thisrdquo said GangwanelsquoScariest momentrsquoLakshmi Gangwane one of the survivors at Rajawadi Hospital Her three daughters and husband are also recuperatingLakshmi Gangwane 40 was admitted with her 15yearold daughter Vishakha at Rajawadi with head injuries Doctors said they are in stable condition The two were shifted from Chemburrsquos Shiv Hospital where her husband and two other daughters are recuperatingNames of victims in the Mahul landslide put up outside Rajawadi Hospital on SundayldquoWe were about to sleep when the landslide happened It was the scariest moment Suddenly everything around me was dark I could hear screams for help as I too looked around for helprdquo said Vishakha Her uncle Vinod Gangwane who shifted the motherdaughter duo to Rajawadi said ldquoWe learnt about the incident early morning and rushed there Luckily all of them are alive and wellrdquolsquoHow will I face my wifersquoBelongings of a family amidst the rubble at BharatnagarVinod Dhawale struggled for words as he tried to describe his loss Dhawale who lives barely 200 metres from the mudslidehit spot said ldquoI am yet to tell my wife that her father Pandit mother Chhaya and sisters Prachi and Pallavi are no more We had just met on Saturday afternoonrdquo He said Pallavi 40 his sisterinlaw decided to stay back while her two children came and stayed with his family and survived the landslide6 amApprox time when rescuers pulled out bodies of Jimurrsquos family members3No of family members Jimur lost in the tragedy