Dongri building collapse: 35-year-old doesn't know wife, son died

Ibrahim Salmani and his mother Sana Salmani lost their lives in the collapse

'I opened my eyes and found myself in the hospital'

Naved Salmani, 35, a second-floor resident of the building doesn't remember anything about the incident. When he opened his eyes in JJ Hospital on Tuesday, the last thing he remembered was playing with his son Ibrahim, a year-and-a-half old, at home along with his wife Sana Salmani, 25. "I don't remember anything. When I opened my eyes, I found myself in the hospital with injuries to my head and hand but I don't know about my son and wife. Someone told me that they are still trapped under the debris. My mother is also seriously injured," he said, as his wife and son breathed their last at the hospital. Two of his relatives - Zuber Mansur Salmani, 20, and Muzamil Mansoor Salmani, 15 - had visited the family after losing their mother to cancer recently. What was supposed to a break from their grief, however, turned fatal for the two as they lost their lives in the collapse. While Zuber was pulled out dead from the debris, Muzamil was declared dead on arrival at JJ hospital.

Naved Salmani, Ibrahim's father, is undergoing treatment at JJ Hospital

Rescuers at the spot have been fighting a battle against time as several people are still feared trapped under the rubble of the unauthorised building which housed 15 families, as per preliminary information. The approach roads to the spot of the incident are so narrow that even rescue vehicles struggled to make their way. According to National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the toll has risen to 11, including 4 women and one child. Scores of locals joined in the effort, forming a human chain to help in removing the debris brick by brick and picking up slabs of concrete to locate those buried at the spot. Twenty-four-year-old Sana Naved's sister, Mussarat Memon, and mother Zaida Abulbakr, were inconsolable. They found out much later that Sana and her 1.5 year old son Ibrahim didn't make it out alive. "My sister and her husband's family had moved from their earlier house in Nagpada just a year ago and were living on rent here. Because of the poor condition of the building they were planning to move to another building," said Memon who lives in Mazgaon.

Also Read: Dongri building collapse: Location and locals complicate rescue ops

Rescued from under iron beam near LPG cylinder

Jeenat Salmani, 25, was rescued safety from the debris after what the fire brigade called "intense efforts." She was found after a child was rescued by the fire brigade team and detected some more movements around him.

Jeenat Salmani and her son

Salmani was trapped critically under the debris under a heavy iron beam, a wooden door and near an LPG cylinder. After cutting through the iron beams using hydraulic cutters and removing the wooden planks using a spreader and power tools, Jeenat was rescued with intense efforts that went on for an hour and a half. "It was a very difficult rescue operation successfully carried out," said a fire brigade official.

Also Read: Dongri building collapse: Tenants were given eviction notice in March

Family vacated flat just days ago

Sixty-year-old Noor Kader Sheikh and her family were fortunate that they had vacated their flat on the second floor just a few days ago. "We lived in this building for 12 years. But the condition of the building had deteriorated and we decided to move to another building. We had vacated the flat on July 5 and were going to hand over the flat when the building collapsed," she said.

'Daughter got married just five months ago!'

Shabana Sheikh, a resident of Ready Road rushed to Dongri after she heard that her 20-year-old daughter, Saira Sheikh was trapped in the debris. "My daughter had gotten married just five months ago.

Shabana, the mother of Saira (right) who died in the crash

She and her husband Rehaan lived in the house just by themselves. Rehaan is a plumber and had stepped out for work when he heard that the building had collapsed," she said. Saira was one of the victims who died on Tuesday.

'We felt the building tremble'

Sabiya Nasir Shaik, a 25-year-old mother of two, died in the Dongri building collapse as she entered the kitchen to make tea for the family. Her father-in-law- Abdul Sattar Kalu Shaik, a committee member of a local dargah, also succumbed to injuries he sustained in the incident.

Hundreds of people from Dongri flocked to the government-run JJ Hospital where most of the injured were taken for treatment. One of Shaik's relatives, Sanaba Rahim Mohammed, said that Sabiya had entered the kitchen "when half of the building collapsed." Her father-in-law was also nearby and "thus sustained heavy injuries to his head but thankfully, her three-month-old child in the other room and his father survived as they rushed out in time." "Abdul was near the kitchen when he sensed some trembling and shouted for help but it was too late," said Soyeb Ahmed, another relative of the Shaik family.

Also Read: Dongri building collapse: Narrow lanes hamper rescue work

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