Fire brigade saves man’s life while acting on other victim’s phone call

Mumbai: A phone call saved two lives on Thursday in the Bhendi Bazaar collapse. Of the 46 persons who were trapped under the building’s debris was Sayed Ahmed Ali (52), a tenant. He had had dialed the Mumbai police’s emergency number 100 and was rescued three hours later. While rescuing Ali, the fire brigade officials realized that another person was also trapped nearby and thus were able to rescue Adbul Rehman (21) as well. They had to use search cameras and hydraulic cutters to extricate the two lucky survivors.  

“When we discovered that there was another person trapped near Ali, we rescued him too,” said P. S. Rahangadale, chief fire officer. “We used the same tactic, which was used while rescuing Ali. Cameras were used for searching and hydraulic cutters were utilised to get them out of the rubble,” he said. Of the 46 who were buried under the rubble, only 13 could be brought out alive, including Ali and Rehman, by the rescue team from the BMC, the Fire Brigade and the NDRF.

Ali had repeatedly dialled the police at 100, which helped the cops to trace him.  After he was pulled out from the rubble around 11am, he alleged that people had snatched his mobile and money, which he was carrying. His family had been praying for his safe recovery from the
rubble.

Stuck under the concrete and dust, Ali, who has a tailoring shop named  Al- Madina on the ground floor of the building, held on to his mobile phone desperately as it was his only source of hope. “I managed to dial 100, the police emergency number and some of my relatives who stay in Sat-Rasta and Allahabad. I told the operator I am stuck under debris and need to be rescued immediately,” Ali told The Asian Age.

Recounting the incident, he continued, “I was sitting on the ground floor with other two colleagues when the building collapsed and we were stuck inside it. Luckily, my mobile phone was with me and I was able to give information about my location to the rescue team. I was rescued by the firemen, but my other two colleagues were not saved, ” he said. He added that someone robbed all his belongings when he was being taken to the
hospital.