Reference to the boys from Darbhanga recurs in conversations taking place in Tulsi Nagar.
These boys are unassuming young fellows who are indistinguishable in the crowded by-lanes. On Friday morning, they were hanging around in a street corner close by when they heard a deafening noise of the four-storey building collapse at 313/4C in which 10 perished.
“We ran towards the site. We started coughing as we were engulfed in a cloud of dust. I could hear cries from within the debris and the structure was still crumbling,” 30-year old zari unit owner Mohammed Guddu told The Hindu .
Guddu and his friends pulled out at least five bodies, some of whom were still breathing. “They were bleeding badly and their skin had torn off in several places. One of them seemed dead but the others were still breathing with difficulty. The police came soon and they took them to the hospital. Later, the policemen told me that none of them survived,” he added.
Among those he pulled out were Mohammed Ijaz and Usale. They were all from in and around Darbhanga’s Narayanpur village. “My maternal grandmother’s village is Narayanpur. I did not know them personally but the boy called Ijaz or Fahim was learning business administration in Burari. He had come to meet his cousin who stays here and works for Mahindra (Automotive) ,” Guddu added.
