Bhiwandi building collapse: Dead woman ensured her son was safe beneath her

After the rescuers pulled out the body of the 25-year-old, they found her two-year-old son below it

A day after a portion of a three-storey building collapsed at Khoni village in Bhiwandi, claiming one life, civic officials have started demolishing the structure.

An injured being rushed to a hospital after being rescued by a team of NDRF personnel on Tuesday. (Praful Gangurde/HT)

On Tuesday night, the dilapidated building, which had been declared dangerous and residents evacuated, came crashing down on a chawl and a public toilet.

A 25-year-old woman was buried under the debris. Her two-year-old son was found safe just below her body. Eight people were rescued. Among them a nine-year-old girl suffered injuries.

Khairunissa Sayyad managed to keep her son Umar safe while she was trapped under the debris. Her father-in-law Ayunb Siraj Sayyad, 63, was rescued.

Fire officer from Kalyan Namdeo Chaudhari said, “We managed to pull out the two-year-old boy as he was safe under his mother, who took the load of the debris which fell on her.”

The rescued were taken to the Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Bhiwandi and are out of danger.

“The fire officials, who were removing the debris, first found the woman, who was dead. Her son lying was safe just under her body. It was an emotional sight,” said Wasim Shaikh, 25, a resident of Khadipar, Bhiwandi.

A fire tender from Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), another from Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) and one from Bhiwandi Nizampur City Municipal Corporation (BNCMC) carried out the rescue operation till 1am on Wednesday. A team of National disaster management force from Thane and Bhiwandi disaster management also joined them.

“Since the roads leading to the building are narrow, it was difficult for the officials to reach and start the rescue operation. The local residents helped them reach there,” said Shaikh.

A day before the collapse, a wall in the building’s ground floor crashed, which acted as a warning. The 22 families were shifted out immediately.

The building at Rasulabag area was declared unsafe by the Bhiwandi tehsildar six months ago. The building, which is around 8 years old, had 32 flats.

“Six months ago after the building was declared dangerous, we had written to the authority to demolish the structure as the MMRDA is the authorised body to take action,” said Shashikant Gaikwad, tehsildar, Bhiwandi.

“When the wall of the ground floor fell, we had asked chawl residents to vacate the chawl and also to not use the toilet. But they did not listen,” he added,

The officials refused to say why the building was not razed even after it was declared dangerous.

The injured were identified as Mariam Zarar Shaikh a nine year old girl and her mother Mahrunisa Shaikh, 40, and her husband and her husband Zarar Ahmad Shaikh, 45, a 60 year old woman Shafiyabi Yusuf Sardar, , another 45 year old man Munnabhai Chaiwala, in laws of deceased woman Ayub Siraj Sayyed,63, and Khatunbi Ayub Sayyed, 45,.

Manoj Patil, deputy commissioner of police from zone 2, said, “We are in process of registering a case against the contractor, Faizan Suse. We have also asked the municipal corporation officials to give us a report about the building structure.”