Looking for their missing family members or belongings in the debris to attending to the injured – the struggle for those who survived the wall collapse in Malad on Tuesday continued a day later.

According to locals, close to 100 huts or more were damaged in the incident. At the time of going to press, the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB), under the assistance of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF), was clearing the debris. At least 26 people were declared dead, and more than 120 injured as of Wednesday evening.

On Wednesday, several residents from the hutments returned to the spot where their homes had stood. “My granddaughter was declared dead on Tuesday, while my grandson is admitted to the ICU at Cooper Hospital. Despite close to 48 hours after collapse, debris is not cleared. Many are feared to have been trapped under the debris,” resident Bhimrao Paitane said.

“My family and I were hospitalised on Tuesday. I came in the hope that we should be present, if government officials come to conduct any survey for the victims. I could react because I was awake. Most people died in their sleep,” said Sunil Chavan, a labourer who lost his house. “We were told that we will be rehabilitated to new homes in Aarey Colony, but that never happened. Every year, we have been battling flooding on this hillock. My whole house is destroyed, my family is in hospital. I hope the government now speeds up the rehabilitation process,” said Chavan.

Bajrangi Sharma, who was injured on Tuesday, said, “I was admitted to hospital on Tuesday morning, and discharged on Wednesday morning. Rescuers are saying getting JCB or bulldozers is becoming difficult as it is a hillock.”

A fire brigade official said, “We cannot call off the operations until the whole site is cleared. Some locals are not cooperating with us.”

The wall collapsed at two spots – Pimpripada and Appapada. “At Pimpripada hillock, the rescue operations were on at full pace, but at Appapada, operations picked up pace only on Wednesday. On Tuesday too, the rescue work began only by 8am, even though the incident took place around 12.30am. Locals were helping people out till then,” said Sadiq Shaikh, a resident of Appapada hillock.

First Published: Jul 04, 2019 14:29 IST