A 24-year-old excavator operator is being praised by officials and locals of Mahad town as a ‘real hero’ for working continuously for around 36 hours at the building collapse site. Even after the rescue operation was called off around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Kishore Lokhande is still removing the debris.
The five-story building, Tarique Garden, at Mahad collapsed on Monday evening, killing 16 people and injuring 9.
Hailing from Beed in Marathwada, Mr. Lokhande was working for a contractor assigned for the Mumbai-Goa Highway widening work — two km away from the collapse site — when he got the call from his boss on Monday evening. “I was told that there was a building collapse at Kajalpura. I immediately rushed to the spot and since then I have been working. The first time I stepped down from the machine was after 26 hours of the rescue operation,” Mr. Lokhande said. He currently stays with his parents and two siblings near the bus stand in Mahad.
Mr. Lokhande had a helper with him but since the helper was not an expert for the work, he insisted to be behind the machine as the work was very critical in saving lives. “In 36 hours, I got off the vehicle only four times, mostly to answer nature’s call. I couldn’t eat or sleep seeing the pain of so many,” Mr. Lokhande said, adding that he had eaten two samosas on Tuesday afternoon and khichdi for dinner.
He had helped the rescue teams retrieve at least 10 bodies from under the rubble, and also helped pull four-year-old Mohammad Bangi out alive. “To see the four-year-old child alive was touching and was the only good thing happened during the rescue operation,” Mr. Lokhande said. He has been operating the excavator for the last six years.