'I want water, can't breathe': Pregnant woman called parents from under debris after Seemapuri building collapse

The five-storey building in Seemapuri collapsed around 3.30pm in the cramped lanes of New Seemapuri, trapping 11 people under the debris.

Shaken and quivering over the death of 21-year-old Gulafsa, who was four months pregnant, her parents said that their daughter called them from under the debris around 5pm.

The search for missing family members continued even as ambulances brought the rescued and injured to the hospital. (Raj K Raj/ HT Photo)

“She said she wanted water and was unable to breathe. They pulled her out. She is dead,” said Shaukat Ali, 55, the father of the deceased woman.

The five-storey building in Delhi's Seemapuri collapsed around 3.30pm in the cramped lanes of New Seemapuri, trapping 11 people under the debris, where locals rushed to help firefighters clear debris from the side of an Eidgah that was the only access point to the site.

‘Scene of desperation’

The lawns outside the GTB Hospital’s emergency ward was a scene of desperation as relatives of the fated building’s inhabitants moved around, calling out names and showing photographs of the residents on their phones, seeking any information from hospital and ambulance staff about those pulled out from the debris.

“She was four months pregnant. He was a drug addict and we had him admitted to a de-addiction centre about two weeks ago. Gulafsa and her daughter were staying with me,” Sameena said.

Gulafsa was crossing the road to meet her family, who lived in the same locality, when the building collapsed. The search for missing family members continued even as ambulances brought the rescued and injured to the hospital.

‘Crossing the street when building collapsed’

Haseena, 42, was among those waiting anxiously for news of her mother Hazra, 58, who, she said, was trapped under the debris. “She was crossing the street when it collapsed. My father was walking ahead. He told me...” she said, struggling to hold back her tears.

Nusrat, the daughter of the building owner, Mohammed Anwar, was also among those whose whereabouts were being anxiously enquired into by her family and relatives. She had been living with the family for the last few weeks.

“She had been living with us because her own house was being constructed. My mother loves her the most. We haven’t told her that she is trapped,” said Nusrat’s sister, Ameena.

Rescue workers had pulled out at least 11 people from the debris by Wednesday night. Those rescued included 56-year-old Momin Mirja, who lived in a house in one of the affected buildings; three-year-old Abdaan, Nusrat’s son; the owner’s 28-year-old son, Abdul Rehman; 28-year-old neighbour Devruddin; 50-year-old Salma, the owner’s wife; 34-year-old Chote; 35-year-old tenant Sakina; and 30-year-old Samad, Abdul’s brother-in-law.

With every ambulance turning up, people swarmed around, seeking to find their relatives, hoping that a name they had been searching for would emerge from the list of survivors.