MUMBAI: Urmila Gautam (27) came to Mumbai with her husband Ajaykumar (30) with a dream: to get treatment for her infertility and try to have a child. Instead, Urmila lost her husband and niece in the blaze in Juhu, which broke out on Wednesday night. The couple were among the 30-odd labourers working on the construction of Prarthana building near Kaifi Azmi park.
Urmila told The Hindu that she and Ajaykumar had come from their native Basti in Uttar Pradesh two months ago. As they had to stay in the city for a while, they took up jobs at the construction site. They were joined by Ajaykumar’s sister Reena (25), her husband Sunil (30), and their three-year-old daughter Shagun.
“I went out for just two minutes to wash the utensils after dinner and saw everything burn down to ashes. We were done with our dinner, but the contractor’s family was yet to eat. They lit a matchstick without attaching the LPG cylinder, which they had just brought, to a stove and ruined all our lives,” Urmila, who was standing near the site of the fire, said.
Apart from Ajaykumar, Shagun too died in the fire, while Sunil is critical, leaving Urmila and Reena to fend for themselves.
“We have a family of 15 at home but nobody will be able to come soon. It will take them three days to get here,” a distraught Urmila said.
Contractor Anwar Rahatullah was out at the time. His wife Saira (33) and daughter Tasneem (12) were burned alive, and were declared dead before admission at Cooper Hospital. Two other bodies are still to be identified, said doctors at the hospital.
