A mobile phone call saved four lives. Hamid, owner of a pan shop located on the premises of City Light Hotel, was trapped under the debris along with three others. Hit by rubble, he suffered bleeding wounds on his head and fell unconscious.
By the time he gained conscious, it was dark with huge and broken concrete slab pieces all around. He could hear noises outside but was unaware of the ongoing rescue operations taken up by the police and GHMC teams. Moving with much difficulty, he picked up his mobile phone. Fortunately for him, it was not damaged.
He rang up his wife. “I am alive and rescue me,” he told her. The shocked woman came crying to the spot and alerted the police.
“We knew some persons were trapped inside and the phone call gave us further leads,” said C. Venkatramulu, head constable of the Commissioner’s Task Force (North Zone) involved in the rescue work. When he and others carefully started removed the rubble when to their pleasant surprise they noticed three others beside Hamid. All the four were pulled out safely one after the other. The quick response and bravery saved their lives.
Commissioner’s Task Force (North zone) head constable C. Venkatramulu was another who showed presence of mind to pull out an injured person. He was among the first to reach the site.
Noticing the collapsed hotel building’s door towards the main road being open, he ventured inside gingerly even as others feared another crash. “After a few feet there was rubble all around but then I saw a hand waving frantically followed by feeble cries for help,” he recalled.
Collecting the tools available with the rescue teams working there, he began cutting off the steel rods before reaching the injured person whose entire body was trapped.
With the help of other policemen, he brought out the man safely and shifted him to a hospital.
