Mumbai: The 12 labourers were brought to hospital with 60–100% burn injuries. Till late night on Monday, two victims were yet to be identified. According to Rajawadi Hospital’s medical superintendent Dr. Vidya Thakur, the identification took time. “The bodies were in a severely-charred condition. The police immediately started the identification.” As per the hospital records, the first victim was brought in at 8.15 a.m., nearly four hours after the fire was reported. He was declared brought dead. Dr. Thakur said that only one patient was admitted to the trauma ward with fractures in both legs.
Narrow escape
Twenty-five-year-old Akhilesh Tiwari had tears in his eyes. He escaped, but failed to save his elder brother. “There was no time to think. By the time I woke up, there was smoke everywhere. I did not run towards the door as I could see fumes there,” said Mr. Tiwari, who jumped from the mezzanine floor where he was sleeping. He suffered fractures in both his legs. His elder brother Mahesh (35) was brought dead to Rajawadi Hospital. The brothers hailed from Basti in Uttar Pradesh. Mahesh is survived by his wife and two teenage children.
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Shivcharan Prajapati (21) had come from Nepal to earn money and support his ageing parents and four younger brothers. He had tried farming on a tiny piece of land in Kapilvastu district, but the income was not sufficient. “He advised his parents to look after the farm and decided to get a new job,” said Prajapati’s cousin Dharmender. Prajapati had come to Mumbai only five months ago, and had got a job in the farsan shop as accommodation was provided there. “It is difficult to break the news to the family,” said Mr. Dharmender.
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Nineteen-year-old Ram Naresh Gupta met his brothers Arjun (25) and Dilip (17) on Sunday when they had lunch and spent time talking. On Monday morning, when Mr. Arjun Gupta was informed about a fire in the factory his brother worked for, he only hoped that he was safe. “We met every Sunday. Last Sunday too, we met and had lunch at the same mezzanine floor,” he said, adding that he and Dilip work in the Kalyan branch of the factory. It was Mr. Arjun Gupta who first started working and got both his brothers from Uttar Pradesh to join him. “As soon as I heard about the fire, I began calling my brother and workers who I knew. But I could not reach anyone,” he said. He rushed to the factory and was then sent to Rajawadi Hospital where he identified his brother’s body.
Soon to be married
Two young cousins from the Mirza family — Wasim (19) and Naeem (18) — lost their lives. Wasim’s marriage was recently fixed and the family was in a celebratory mode. “We had gone to see the girl last month. We were planning the wedding sometime in May or June,” said his uncle Subrati Khan. Wasim and Naeem were paternal cousins and had started working in the factory a few months ago. They hailed from Gonda in Uttar Pradesh. Wasim’s father Salim works as a cobbler in Chembur.