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‘I saw death’: Firefighter from Peeragarhi recalls ordeal
Dahiya was among the firefighters dispatched from Jwala Heri fire station to douse a fire in the Peeragarhi industrial area around 6am.
His daughter was to start her biotechnology research from Saturday. His son had a budding career in javelin throw. His wife was at home, waiting for him to return for breakfast. As Mahabir Singh Dahiya lay buried under the debris of a three-storey building in Peeragarhi on Thursday, these were the only things racing through his mind. “I thought I was living the last few minutes of my life,” the 54-year-old firefighter said.
Dahiya was among the firefighters dispatched from Jwala Heri fire station to douse a fire in the Peeragarhi industrial area around 6am. They traced the source of the fire to the basement of a building and began moving into it in shifts, all wearing hazmat suits. Then, the building collapsed onto them. It left a new recruit to the fire services, 27-year-old Amit Baliyan, dead.
An air-conditioner and a metal bench held up a major portion of the debris right above his head, preventing him from being crushed, and allowing him some space to breath for two long hours.
“When the other firefighters and I got into the basement of the building, which housed the office, storeroom and manufacturing unit of a battery company, there was fire all around. Some batteries stored there were exploding because of the heat. A battery close to me exploded and I felt a strong gust of heat. Within seconds, with a rumbling sound, something very heavy collapsed on me and I fell unconscious,” he said.
He woke up a few minutes later, to water dripping on his face and realised he was buried under concrete debris and that the building had collapsed.
“I could not move either of my legs. My right hand was trapped under debris. I could barely lift my head to see what was happening, because my view was blocked by thick concrete sheets and pillars. It was dark all around. Smoke, dust and heat was all I could breathe,” he said.
When he regained his senses completely, he thought he had lost both his legs.
“Trying to move, I noticed there was water constantly dripping on my face. Since we had been sprinkling water for more than two hours, water was clogged all around. Fearing that I will drown to death, I cried for help and asked them to stop spraying water. But I also realised it was the water that had kept the fire away. I also spotted that heavy remains of the building that had fallen on me were wedged away from me, with their pressure on an air-conditioner and a metal bench lying close to me. This prevented me from being crushed instantly, and gave me some space to breathe and shout for help,” he said.
Dahiya recalled that his colleagues and supervisors responded to his cries instantly, and asked him to be patient as they started the rescue. However, he said it still took them close to two hours to pull him out safely.
He described these two hours as the most “fearful minutes” of his life. “My daughter has completed her MSc in biotechnology and is starting her research on Saturday. My son studies in class 12 and is practising javelin throw, aiming to become a national player some day. These images kept playing out in front of me, as I thought I was living the last minutes of my life,” Dahiya said. He is recuperating in a hospital in the city, where he is being treated for multiple muscle tears, cuts, and bruises. He underwent an MRI scan of his head on Friday as well.
Close to his bed in the hospital, within the same ward, is Bakshi Ram, another of the firefighters who had been injured by the collapsing building. However, Ram said he managed to escape before it could collapse onto him.
“I was close to the basement exit, luckily. As the roof collapsed with an explosion, I got hit by the raining concrete pieces, but did not get buried under them. Despite injuries on my right shoulder and multiple muscle tears, I managed to make my way out of the basement and was pulled to safety by my colleagues and other rescuers,” he said.
The incident also left two other firefighters injured — Manjeet Rana and Ashok. Rana is currently admitted in the intensive care unit of a city hospital, and remains in a critical condition.
