‘Mujhe bahar nikalo’: Teen found after 12 hours, dies on way to hospital

Bodies of the parents and the three-year-old were found in the morning, while Deepa’s body was found around 2pm. The rescue operations, which started around 2am, got tough as it kept raining through the night. The teams kept Sanchita engaged in a conversation.

Despite their efforts for 12 hours, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) could not save 15-year-old Sanchita who kept saying ‘Mujhe bahar nikalo’ from under the rubble.

NDRF and fire brigade personnel during rescue work at Kurar village in Malad, Mumbai, after a wall collapsed there . (Pramod Thakur / HT Photo)

The Nanaware family – Laxman Nanaware, 40, his wife Rani Nanaware, 30, and children Parshuram, 3, Sanchita and Deepa, 12. – was stuck under the debris after a retaining wall collapsed in Kurar, Malad on Tuesday.

Bodies of the parents and the three-year-old were found in the morning, while Deepa’s body was found around 2pm. The rescue operations, which started around 2am, got tough as it kept raining through the night. The teams kept Sanchita engaged in a conversation.

They then cut through the collapsed wall to save the girl. She asked for water to drink, a doctor working on the rescue operation said. The debris was removed using gas cutters. PS Rahangdale, chief fire officer, MFB, said, “Getting access to the site was difficult. Rescue equipment, crowd management and rain were the other hurdles. The operation was carried out using portable generators, hydraulic cutters and petrol-operated saw and rotary cutters.”

“I live in a nearby hutment and a portion of the collapsed wall is tilting towards my house. I have vacated my house. We are homeless now, sitting with the dead bodies of my relatives. What will we do with the compensation amount if we have no roof on our heads?”

Another relative Gopal Bandgar said, “The wall collapsed as it was not able to handle the rainwater from the BMC’s reservoir. The incident could have been averted had the authorities thought about it.”