Their bodies were found almost 12 hours later on Sunday afternoon. (Express Photo) KIRANDEVI VISHWAKARMA, 32, a homemaker, was stuck waist-deep in the debris. Her nephew tried to pull her out but she wanted to pull out her daughter first — the 14-year-old child was under the debris and screaming for help.
Within a minute more debris came from above and buried them under the rubble of their house at Panchsheel chawl in Surya Nagar of Vikhroli (west). Their bodies were found almost 12 hours later on Sunday afternoon.
Kirandevi Vishwakarma (Express photo)
The Vishwakarma family has a carpentry business. Kirandevi lived in the hill slope slum with her husband Hansraj, son Prince, 11, daughter Pinky, and nephews Ravishankar, 24, and Ashish, 15.
Hansraj, a carpenter, used to work and stay at his workplace at Hiranandani in Powai and used to visit his family on weekends. But due to some additional work, he did not return home this weekend.
“Around 2.30 am I got a call informing me about the incident. My boss dropped me home. I lost my entire family. Who will I live for now? I have nothing to live for. I lost my father just forty-five days back. My mother lives in our village Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh,” Hansraj said while waiting for the bodies of his family members at Rajawadi hospital.
Ravishankar, the only other member to have survived, said the only reason he was alive was that he was near the door.
“As the debris poured, I kept climbing on it. A nearby meter box broke, too, and we suffered electric shocks due to it. Somehow, I managed to locate my aunt Kirandevi. She was stuck waist-deep in the debris. Her daughter was screaming for help, but she was stuck further below and I could not see her. I told Kirandevi to give me her hand so that I could pull her out, but she kept telling me: ‘Save her (Pinky) first’. Within 60 seconds a lot more debris fell on us from above. I somehow saved myself but lost my little brother Ashish in the incident,” Ravishankar said. The family lived in the 240-sq ft house for Rs 3,000 rent.
Nearby, the Tiwari family, too, lost three family members. Pintu Tiwari (22), who lived there with his parents, two brothers and two sisters, said, “I lost my parents Ramnath (45) and Kavita (42), and brother Ankit (23).”
“Ankit had come just a fortnight ago from our village in UP but was unable to find a job. My father was a florist. My siblings Madhu and Pankaj and I were in a room below theirs. We got out in time. The three were upstairs in another room with my sister Neetu. She survived with a leg injury,” he added.
Kamlesh Yadav (45), who lived in the area with his nephews, also succumbed. Mahendra Yadav (31), his nephew, said, “My uncle and I were sleeping when something hit my leg and I woke up. My uncle Kamlesh was not there on the bed and I ran towards safety. I stood in a corner trying to locate him. His body was found later in the afternoon.”
Kamlesh was from Jaunpur and is survived by his wife and four children.
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