Prayers Turned to Cries: Wall Collapse Claims Lives at Delhi Mosque

Time of India

2 days ago

New Delhi: By Friday afternoon, the small mosque next to Humayan's Tomb in Nizamuddin had drawn its usual gathering of devotees, some seeking blessings, others seeking solace. Among them were a retired schoolteacher who had come to pray for her injured son, a young tailor hoping to meet the imam before an evening out with friends and a mother of four visiting with her husband.
None could have known that within minutes, a wall would collapse around them.
Nadeem was waiting outside the mosque for his childhood friend, 32-year-old Moinuddin, a tailor who had gone inside to see the imam. "We've been together since we were kids. He was a good man, the breadwinner for his family. I was looking forward to seeing a movie with him," said Nadeem, adding he would never forget the sight of his friend's body being pulled out from the rubble.
Moinuddin's wife, Afsana, 28, sobbed, "I was also going with him, but he asked me to stay with the kids because of the rains. I don't know what to do without him. My children keep asking for him." Afsana, their five-year-old son, a student in a govt school, and three-year-old daughter depended entirely on Moinuddin.
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Another deceased, retired teacher and Jangpura resident Anita Saini, 56, was at the mosque to pray for her son.
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"This is the first time that she went there," said son Rishab Saini, 29. "She went to meet the imam and pray because I had suffered some injuries."
Rafat Parveen, 33, survived but was badly injured. Her husband, Mohammad Ashik, 39, recalled, "The moment I reached the door to step out to get waterthe wall collapsed and the cei-ling came down. I did not think of anything else, just kept digging through the rubble to save my wife.
I could only think of my four kids. I was lucky the children weren't with us."
According to local residents who were the first to respond, the debris was around 4feet high, wet and slushy because of the rain and very difficult to dig. Delhi Fire Service division officer Mukesh Verma said the rescue was particularly challenging due to the volume of debris and the location. "Before the fire tenders arrived, the locals had rescued five people.
The rest were pulled out by firefighters and other responders," Verma said.
"The operation was diffi-cult because the site is in a jungle-like area where a JCB could not come. We had to clear debris manually, taking care not to harm anyone trapped underneath."
Specialised firefighting equipment, including life detector machines, was deployed at several spots to scan for any signs of movement or heartbeat under the rubble. The search operation was still under way till late evening.
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