E-Paper
Delhi fire: Most victims were young, migrant labourers
New Delhi:
New Delhi:
Most victims of the fire at north Delhi’s Anaj Mandi were all young, migrant labourers; many of them minors who had moved to the city from their villages to fulfil their aspirations for a better life.
The victims largely belonged to places such as Samastipur, Madhubani, Begusarai, Sitamarhi and Muzaffarnagar in Bihar, and Moradabad and Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh.
While the average age documented is between 16 and 27 years, many who turned up at different hospitals looking for their kin were minors working in different factories across the city, and had been brought here by villagers already working here.
Barely a few among the victims were above the age of 50.
Mustafa (24), one of the survivors, had moved to Delhi from Sitamarhi just about a week back.
“There were four-five more from my family in the building. But since I was rescued from the building, I have no idea where they are,” he said. He explained that about five to six people, including children, lived in each of the 16 rooms in the building. “There were some women as well who lived in the top floor. But they escaped through the terraces of the neighbouring buildings,” he added.
The residents of the building were involved in activities such as manufacturing bags, caps, plastic, cardboard, etc., earning approximately Rs 7,000-10,000 per month, and working from 9 am to at least 9 pm, and often till midnight.
After their day’s work, they would sleep in cramped spaces in the same building. Survivors said they saw it as a lucrative opportunity as they saved on rent and travel charges.
Most of them had left their families back in their villages and would visit them periodically. Mono Agarwal from Bijnor in UP, whose friend Muhammad Musharaf (32) passed away in the incident, said the deceased was the sole earning member in his family and had has six people dependent on him. “He had visited home just day before yesterday,” said Agarwal.
Mohd. Afsar, 28, who died in the fire incident, was to leave for his village on Monday. He was going to visit his wife, two-year-old son and two-month old daughter. He had visited his brother, who makes lehengas in Karol Bagh the day before.
“He came and met me. He said he would go home on Monday and if I wanted to send anything home, he would take it. I had stitched a few clothes for my family. He had taken them from me yesterday. Today, he is no more,” said 18-year-old Mustaqir.
At Lok Nayak hospital, two of the people who died were minors – 11 year old Akbar and 12 year old Sukhiya. One child has also been admitted to the hospital with inhalation injuries.
There were no women living on the floor of the building on which people had been trapped.
Several among the victims had their kin scattered across Delhi. Jahana (26) from Madhubani village in Bihar, who was at Lok Nayak hospital, said that she was looking out for her brother Shakil (26) who had been working and residing in the building for over a decade. While Jahana lives with her husband at Burari, she said that she last spoke to her brother about six months back.
Then there were people like Mohd. Shakil, a teenager, moving from one hospital to another in search of his village brother Mohd. Naushad. He showed his brother’s picture to almost everyone he met. “There were three-four factories in that building, I don’t know which one bhai worked in. I work as a painter and live in East Delhi’s Patparganj area. He was working there for past 3 years,” he said.
