Life played a cruel joke, say kin of Ludhiana roof collapse victims

Three out of the four labourers who lost their life in Monday’s tragedy, hail from Khawaspur village of Araria district in Bihar and had migrated to Ludhiana in search of work

Three out of the four labourers who lost their life in Monday’s tragedy, hail from Khawaspur village of Araria district in Bihar and had migrated to Ludhiana in search of work and a hope of better future. All of them were the sole breadwinners of their families.

Rescue operations on at the Ludhiana roof collapse site on Tuesday. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

The bodies of three of the victims, Mustkeen, Peechu of Kakowal road and Imitiaz of Kakowal road, were handed over to their kin after post-mortem while authorities are waiting for Sagar’s kin to reach Ludhiana.

Mohammad Ehsan, brother of the victim, Mustkeen, said that all three brothers had migrated to Ludhiana just two months ago. “What will I tell Mustkeen’s wife and three children? Life has played such a cruel joke on them,” he said.

“While I work in Gurdaspur, my two brothers Mustkeen and Mohammad Akram had been working in Ludhiana. I had asked Akram to find a job for Mustkeen at one place but the contractor took him along to the construction site,” Ehsan added.

Mohammad Gulzar, son of the victim Mohammad Khurshid alias Peechu, said he, along with his father and two brothers, had migrated to Ludhiana in the hope of earning a decent living. “But after this tragedy, I don’t want to stay here anymore. I will return to my native village,” he said.

“I was standing in a corner and fell into the adjoining factory and survived, but my brother was trapped inside and died,” he said.

Imtiaz is survived by his wife and three children.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP, City 2) Jaskiranjit Singh Teja said the bodies have been dispatched to Bihar in an ambulance after the postmortem.