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‘Within seconds, all came crashing down’: Shocked survivors recount collapse
The shock of the collapse was such that it left several of the injured distraught and disconcerted. They were unable to verbalise their emotions even hours after being attended by medical teams.
LUCKNOW “We were sitting and talking to each other when suddenly, it all crashed down with the building. The sudden massive jolt lasted for just a few seconds. Afterwards, we found ourselves covered in dust,” said 50-year-old Nasreen recalling the horrific collapse of the residential building in the city’s Wajir Hasan Road area on Tuesday.
She was among several others who were rescued and rushed to the Civil Hospital for treatment following the accident. The shock of the collapse was such that it left several of the injured distraught and disconcerted. They were unable to verbalise their emotions even hours after being attended by medical teams.
Another horror-struck survivor, 58-year-old Ranjana Awasthy, recounted the incident saying, “I felt as if the land beneath me disappeared suddenly. It all happened so quickly... even before we could actually understand what made the building shake.” She is undergoing treatment at the Civil Hospital, which had admitted seven survivors -- including three women, as many men, and a minor -- by 8.30 pm. The condition of the child was told to be serious during hospital admission.
Meanwhile, two other people were taken to King George’s Medical University Trauma Centre (KGMU) in serious condition. “19-year-old Unnati and 20-year-old Khalid were rescued and taken to trauma centre by our team. They are stable at present. We have one team ready at trauma centre and another at the accident site,” said Professor Sandip Tiwari, chief medical superintendent of trauma centre and HoD trauma surgery at KGMU.
“The building management had contacted all flat owners to deposit some money for repair work and my husband had gone to pay the same. After handing over the money, he went to flat 403 to meet a friend and was having tea when the incident happened. As I got the call, I rushed to the spot,” said Marian, whose husband Ashley is admitted to Civil Hospital.
In all, 15 ambulances were pressed in to service after the building collapse. Deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak, who is also the state’s health minister, also reached the spot and took stock of the rescue operations. He later visited Civil Hospital and visited the emergency ward of the hospital where all the rescued people were being attended by the medical team. He also inspected medical equipment -- including CT scan -- to ensure all equipment were functional.
“Multiple teams have been deployed at the accident site and at the hospital. All injured are being attended to and provided free treatment. We are making all efforts to save the injured,” added Pathak. Besides, a separate team from KGMU -- led by chief medical superintendent of the trauma centre Professor Sandip Tiwari -- was deployed at the accident site to give immediate treatment to the rescued people.
The state government has also asked all the blood banks to remain on alert. Similarly, the medical teams have also been asked to stay on alert to meet any situation till the rescue operation are ongoing.
