When I opened my eyes, three of the family were crushed under debris, says eyewitness

Hyderabad: The 30-foot-high wall collapsed on temporary structures crushing a woman who was feeding her four-year-old son and a sick man who did not attend work as he was recuperating from illness, said an eyewitness. These victims were part of the seven, who died when a rain-soaked wall caved in Renuka Yellamma Colony, Bachupally on Tuesday.

According to the eyewitness, the incident occurred at around 5.45 pm, following a heavy rain a 30-foot tall rain soaked boundary wall of a five storied under construction domestic apartments caved in on the other side of the building where the victims were in their room.

“Around 5.45 pm, it was raining heavily. I went to see Ram Yadav, 35, my cousin and co-worker who was sick. He was taking medicine, while his wife G. Geeta was feeding her four-year-old son Himanshu Yadav, when I heard a thud sound. When I opened my eyes, I was struck in the debris of cement brick that penetrated through asbestos sheets,” said Udhal Yadav, a cousin of Ram Yadav, who is an eyewitness in the case.

“I was in a deep shock and could not realise what happened to me in front of me. I was just two feet away from the mishap. I shouted Ram bhai, but by then three of them were buried under the debris,” Udhal Yadav said.

Ram Yadav, a centring worker and the only bread earner in the family, came to Hyderabad along with his son Himanshu and Geeta from Nava Para Munda village in Chattisgarh on May 5 after his father Murit Yadav suffered a paralysis stroke, Udhal Yadav said.

On May 6, Ram complained of sun stroke and stomach infection and was under treatment, Udhal, who got stuck in four-feet deep debris, suffered bleeding injuries.

Over 50 labourers and masons from Odisha, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh were living in 12 small rooms with asbestos roof and four huts. However, only 14 people. including me, were in rooms while others were out on work when the mishap occurred, said Nandu Kumar Yadav, who is victim Geeta’s brother.

When Udhal Yadav called me at 6.30 pm, he was crying, stating `bhaiya bohat gazab ho gaya mai phas gaya aur Ram, Himanshu, Geeta our char mazdoor margay deewar girne se`. By the time I reached the location from Kothapet, the builder was getting debris cleared with the help of two JCB machines, said Nanda Yadav.

The 30-foot-high and 25-foot-long concrete wall was constructed one week back on granite stones at the ground level. They did not dig into the ground to lay the basement. The wall was eight-inch wide, with several tonnes of sand dumped on the other side, Nanda Kumar said.

The entire sand load fell on the wall and caved on the temporary rooms built for workers 10 feet away from the wall.

The other victims were identified as Thirupathi Maji, 20, Shankar Maji, 22, of Odisha, Raju Lal, 25, and his wife Kushi Lal, 20, who are the natives of West Bengal.

While the other injured workers who are undergoing treatment in a private hospital at Bachupally have been identified as Sagar, Meravi (21) Sovinder Dunmy (21), both natives of Madhya Pradesh, Yedimi (19) and Mothi, both women, from Chattisgarh, Jagapathi (19), and Desmo Soum (20) from Odisha, and Amir Hussen (28) from West Bengal.

Four of the victims have already been discharged, other three injured victims suffered critical injuries and multiple fractures. Doctors suggested that they undergo surgery, said G. Sandhya, the sub inspector of Bachupally police station.

The victim’s bodies have been shifted to Gandhi Hospital and their family members from their native places are on the way.

“Our village is more than 1,400 kilometres away. We cannot make an effort to take the bodies for last rites. We request the government to help us in transporting the bodies of all victims to their native place,” said Somnath Maji, a victim's cousin.

The police have detained Venkanna Arvind Reddy, the builder of the five-storied under-construction building with 45 apartments. A case has been booked under 304 IPC part –II 337 IPC, which deals with an act that is undertaken with the intent to cause death, or a physical injury that causes hurt to any person by doing any act so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life. Police are checking with GHMC, MRO, and RDO to ascertain whether Arvind had obtained all required permissions for the construction.