Mumbai building collapse: ‘My legs are trapped’, Ghatkopar man tells son on phone from under rubble

Ghatkopar man Rajesh Doshi called his son from under the Mumbai building rubble, saying his legs were trapped

Rajesh Doshi, 57, who was buried alive in the Ghatkopar building collapse for 14 hours, got a second lease of life early Wednesday morning, all thanks to his mobile phone.

Rita Doshi (in brown) panicked after the building collapse. Her husband Rajesh was rescued on Wednesday morning. (Satyabrata Tripathy/HT Photo)

Here’s how. Doshi got buried under the debris with his mobile phone. Around 6pm in the evening on Tuesday, Doshi made a call to his son from under the building rubble, saying his legs were trapped.

The call helped the fire brigade locate him, but it took the authorities another eight hours to find him.

Doshi, a resident of the ill-fated Siddhi Sai building, was rescued around 2.45am and was admitted to the adjoining Shantiniketan hospital. His condition is now stable.

The fire brigade and hospital officials told HT Doshi has been kept under observation in the intensive care unit of the hospital.

The fire brigade officials first removed the rubble from his face to help him breathe better. “His son then gave him some lime juice and water,” Doshi’s friend Lalit Upadhyay said.

A rope was released, but it took almost half-an-hour to cut the slabs and get him out.

According to eye-witnesses, NDRF removed a woman from the rubble around the same time, but she was dead. .

When Doshi was removed, he folded his hands in a thank you gesture to the fire brigade, said an eye-witness said.