Seven dead, seven injured in Kurla landslide

Like so many others in Mumbai, the settlement on the hill slope was unauthorised and had been served the routine pre-monsoon notice but the residents had nowhere else to go

MUMBAI:Seven people died, including four from one family, and seven others were injured after a landslide on a hill slope crushed slum homes in Chirag Nagar in Kurla west, at around 3.30am on Wednesday. The deceased included two children aged two and four.

A peepal tree on the hillside was uprooted and came down along with mud and other debris, destroying four slum homes and damaging three others (Raju Shinde/HT Photoi)

Residents said it was raining when the landslide occurred. A peepal tree on the hillside was uprooted and came down along with mud and other debris, destroying four slum homes and damaging three others. Like so many others in Mumbai, the settlement on the hill slope was unauthorised and had been served the routine pre-monsoon notice but the residents had nowhere else to go.

Rescue was difficult due to the narrow lanes in the neighbourhood, said chief fire officer Ravindra Ambulgekar. “Even though we had the required equipment, we had to undertake the rescue work manually.”

Survivors are still reeling from shock. Atturnissa Ansari, 45, a balloon seller, said, “My three sons, my nephew and his friend were asleep on the upper level, while my husband and I were beneath. We heard a loud thud and I tried to see what it was. The entire roof had crashed on my children.”

Ansari said the entrance to her home was blocked by soil the landslide had dumped. “We started shouting. By then, people had gathered outside and removed the soil,” she recalls. While her sons survived, Ansari’s nephew Samir Ansari, 16, and his friend Sahil Kazi, 19, died in the crash.

Shabbir Qureshi, 28, a general store owner and one of the first responders, said he is haunted by the cries of those who were trapped. “After the crash, there was panic all around. Some of us rushed forward when people started shouting that the mountain had come crashing down.” Qureshi said they tried desperately to clear the rubble. “We could hear the cries of those who were trapped but we couldn’t get to them,” he recalls.

Another resident, Naeemuddin Khan, 48, said he had returned home at 1:30am after admitting his pregnant daughter to Bhabha Hospital in Kurla. A cloth vendor, Khan was fast asleep when the roof of his home collapsed. “At first, I thought I was dreaming and someone had pinned me down. Then I realised the roof had collapsed on me. Thankfully, the debris fell on my legs and I was able to free myself.”

After that, Khan navigated an obstacle course on his way to safety. “There was no way to climb down due to the debris, so I jumped onto the adjacent roof and walked across three houses. At one point, one of the roofs gave way and I fell inside. I took the staircase from there, came out and was taken to hospital,” he recalls.

The deceased were brought dead to Rajawadi Hospital. They are: Mohamad Samir Ansari (16), Sahil Husen Abdul Kazi (19), Arif Shaikh (28), Aban Arif Shaikh (2), Manat Arif Shaikh (4), Marjina Arif Shaikh (27) and Viket Ramesh Yadav (27).

Four of the seven injured were admitted to Bhabha Hospital in Kurla. They are: Sohel Ansari (18), Mohamad Ansari (14), Naimuddim Khan (28) and Sajid Ansari (16). Three others were admitted to Rajawadi Hospital. They are Farana Dilber Khan (28), Dilber Amnulla Khan (38) and Shamin Muslim Khan (26).

Municipal commissioner Ashwini Bhide said the structures had been built on government land and residents had been warned repeatedly about the danger. A civic official said the structures were unauthorised and notices warning residents about the risk to life had been issued as part of the BMC’s annual pre-monsoon preparedness measures.

Mayor Ritu Tawde announced financial assistance of ₹4 lakh to the families of each deceased. Those injured will receive medical assistance up to ₹50,000 each.

Local corporator Vijayendra Shinde said asking residents of informal settlements like these to vacate before every monsoon does not address the question of where these families are expected to go. He said he has demanded that the surviving families be accommodated under the Project Affected Persons (PAP) rehabilitation framework.

Family of four dead

Abrar Shaikh said his brother Arif Shaikh, 28, had died in the crash along with his wife Marjina, 27, and two children, Mannat, 4, and son Aban, 2. “My brother was working as a fitter and lived in Mumbai for the last six years. He lived in this settlement as he couldn’t afford to go anywhere else,” said Abrar.

He said the family of four had returned from their village in Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, on Monday. “It was only the second time my brother’s wife and children were visiting Mumbai. They were to spend two months here. Young Mannat was very excited about the trip,” said Abrar.

He said he was informed about the incident at around 6:00am, after which he and his relatives rushed to Chirag Nagar. His brother and his family were confirmed dead when their bodies were brought out of the rubble at around 10:00am. “We plan to take the bodies to our village for the last rites,” said Abrar.

‘Had I been quicker, I might have saved my cousin’: Sajid Ansari

Sajid Ansari, who was trapped under the debris when a part of the roof collapsed due to the landslide on Wednesday, has one regret. Although he managed to free himself and rescue his two brothers, Sohel and Ali, his maternal cousin Samir Ansari and Samir’s friend Sahil died in the accident.

“Had I been quicker, I might have saved Samir,” said the 16-year-old, who is undergoing treatment at the Bhabha Hospital.

Sajid last spoke to Samir around 2.30am on Wednesday, when the latter asked him to switch off his phone before going to sleep. “There were five of us sleeping on the first floor of our house – me, my elder brother Sohel, younger brother Ali, maternal cousin Samir and his friend Sahil, whose name I learnt much later,” Sajid told HT.

When a part of the roof of their tenement came crashing down around 3.30am, Sajid thought there was an earthquake. “As I was trying to understand what had happened, I could hear my younger brother crying in pain and pleading for help. Others were also shouting,” he said.

Sajid, who was sleeping on the edge, immediately began clearing the debris and rescued his two brothers. But when he went back to rescue Samir, the latter was oozing blood from his mouth and appeared to be struggling for his life.

“I removed the rubble and tried to rescue Samir and his friend. But it was already too late,” he said, sobbing.

Since the structure beneath their house had also been damaged due to the landslide, Sajid and his brothers had to climb onto the roof and walk across two houses. “People then helped us down, offering their shoulders for us to step on,” he said.

‘Viket was my sole support’: Chaya Yadav

Chaya Yadav, whose son Viket died in Wednesday’s landslide, said the family would relocate out of Chirag Nagar every year during the monsoon fearing an imminent landslide. This year too, the family had moved out. But since Viket used to work from home and was facing network issues in the new house, on Tuesday night, he went back to Chirag Nagar.

Viket was with his friend Saddam Khan, 28, when the landslide occurred. Hours later, Viket’s body was retrieved from beneath the rubble while Saddam was still feared trapped.

“Viket had lost his father as a child. He was my sole support, and now I have lost him too,” Chaya said, wailing. Her son was to turn 31 on Thursday. “We had even bought clothes for him for his birthday,” she said.

Amreesh Pal, 32, a neighbour, said Viket used to be active in the locality – he used to organise Ganpati celebrations and took part in various social initiatives.