Man injured, wife, kids trapped

A fortnight ago, 27-year old Aziz Shaikh moved to Antop Hill with his wife and two children.

A fortnight ago, 27-year old Aziz Shaikh moved to Antop Hill with his wife and two children.

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He had been warned about the dangers of living in the hills, but decided to take the risk.

At around 7.30am on Wednesday, following torrential downpour, a huge rock came rolling down the hill and landed on three shanties, including the one where the Shaikh family lived.

While Shaikh escaped with injuries, his wife and two children aged 2 and one and half were trapped under the rock. Shaikh suffered multiple fractures and is recuperating at Sion Hospital, while the fate of his family members was unclear at the time of going to press.

Shaikh, who hails from West Bengal, does petty jobs in the city to make ends meet.

Shaikh’s whife, who was staying at her parents’ place in Ratnagiri, shifted to Mumbai after he had rented a 30-foot room in Devram Dada chawl.

“I warned him about the danger of landslides as we have been through a few in the past. But he could not afford other houses in the area and had to suffice in the small room,” his landlady Rashida Shaikh told HT.

Rashida said that she does not let her house on rent during the rains as landslides are more likely to occur in that period.

“But owing to Shaikh’s financial condition, I had to allow him to stay in the room. He told me that life and death is in the hands of God,” said Rashida.