Ahmedabad: Nansi Varsani, Yashwi Kothia and Hasti Surani from Aashadip School in Surat, Gujarat, passed the Class 12 board exams on Saturday with 53.42, 59.71 and 60.42 per cent respectively but their mark sheets brought tears instead of joy for their families. The girls had died a day before in Friday’s fire at a commercial complex.
“I have no words to explain our feelings. Just can’t imagine that these girls are no more. We would have been happy for their results,” school managing trustee Mahesh Ramani said with tears in his eyes.
The fire broke on the roof of the Takshashila complex in Sarthana on Friday, which claimed 22 lives. All of them were students who were attending private coaching classes including fashion designing and mental mathematics.
Three of them died while jumping from the three-storey building in an effort to escape, while others were killed by the fire. “The smoke was terrible. I called the fire brigade but by the time it arrived we were surrounded by the fire. We were not in a position to go to the staircase so we decided to jump. Luckily, people who had gathered near the building caught me and I survived with an injury but I feel sad for my friends,” said Aarzu Khunt, 20. Ruchit Vekaria, 19, saved his life by jumping from the building.
“We were 20-22 of us together. It was a near-death experience. When we realised that we cannot escape, we decided to jump. We feared we were dying so there was no harm in jumping even if we would have got injured,” said Ruchit. One can still see fear in his eyes.
The real hero was Ketan Merwadia.
Originally from Saurashtra and working in the disposable plastic business, Ketan lives nearby. When he saw the building on fire, he rushed in without worrying about his life. He stood at the staircase despite the fire and helped rescue students.
“It was my duty. When others were filming the fire on their mobile phones, I thought I must try to get the students out. I did what I could,” Mr Merwadia said.
Lalji Chovatia was another hero, who stood near the building with others and tried to catch the students who were jumping off the building.
The state government has ordered a fire safety check in all buildings housing coaching classes across the state. The government has announced compensation of `4 lakh for each family who lost their children in the incident.
