Bawana fire: Devastated kin look for bodies, answers
It’s 10:30 am. Rubeena is sitting outside BR Ambedkar Hospital’s mortuary in Rohini. The 17-year-old girl is with her father. She screams to meet her mother, who died in Saturday’s warehouse fire.
“My wife Madina, 55, left behind two mentally challenged children — Rubeena and Feroz. She singlehandedly took take care of both. I don’t know what I will do without her now,” says Nasruddin, 65, as he bangs his head against a chair.
Nasruddin and Rubeena were among hundreds of angry and grief-stricken people gathered at the hospital to identify or collect the bodies of their loved ones. However, there was no word from authorities on when the bodies will be handed over.
Also at the hospital was Phoolmati, a resident of Metro Vihar JJ Colony, who lost her 18-year-old daughter in the tragedy.
“Pata nahi kaise tadpi hogi meri beti. Mujhe awaaz bhi lagayi hogi usne. Mai nahi aa payi usko bachane. Ab mai use kabhi nahi dekh paungi,” she wails.
Phoolmati’s daughter Rita was the youngest among the deceased. It was her second day at the warehouse. “She told me that it was a toy factory. Had I known the reality, I would have never allowed her to work there,” she says.
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