Family was asleep during tragedy; eight others, including three children and a pregnant woman, managed to escape
The Bagads’ lives crashed as their one-storey tenement in the congested Kherwadi area of Bandra caved in on Wednesday morning in their sleep. While one family member died, eight others, including three children and a pregnant woman, managed to escape with minor injuries before the structure collapsed completely.
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Most of the Bagad family made a quick getaway as its one-storey tenement collapsed on Wednesday morning. Pics/Ajinkya Sawant
Neighbours said they had noticed mud falling off the walls of the newly-built house in the past 15 days.
Ishwar Kando, a neighbour, said he ran to inform the Bagads’ relatives, who live a few houses away, as he spotted the house caving in at 6.10 am. “I had come down to fill water and saw the wall sinking. But by the time I reached the relatives’ house, the entire structure had collapsed.”
Kantadevi Bagad (55) (top) was not so lucky
A part of Kando’s house, which abutted the Bagads’ tenement, was damaged from the impact of the collapse. His wife sleeping in the adjoining room had a providential escape.
Other neighbours, who rushed to help the family, said apart from Kantadevi Bagad (55), everyone else managed to get out of the house quickly without any major injury. “A family member, Sushila Bagad (40), is heavily pregnant. Fortunately, she escaped with minimal injuries. Also, the children — Payal (10), Arya (5) and Gaurav (9) — weren’t in the line of collapse. We were able to rush them all to the hospital,” said Rahul Sharma, a neighbour.
Neighbours said the family had built the house on its own and suspected that construction material of poor quality had been used for it.
Kantadevi was declared dead at the VN Desai Hospital in Santacruz. The others, with the exception of house owner Gopal (31), who was admitted to the orthopaedic ward, sustained minor cuts and were administered treatment.
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