This Article is From Nov 18, 2010

Delhi building crash: Unfolding tragedy

Delhi building crash: Unfolding tragedy
New Delhi: Rescue operations are still on at the site of the building collapse in Delhi's Lakshmi Nagar area on Monday that killed 67 people. Some families say they can hear their relatives trapped under the debris; for those left behind, it's an endless nightmare.

Maitani's world has come crashing down. Her two children - 16-year-old son Ajit and 17-year-old daughter - are missing ever since the five-storey building where they lived collapsed.

Her oldest daughter Shankari has lost her five-year-old daughter Preeti.

The tragedy is yet to sink in, but mother and daughter - both domestic helps - have resumed work.

"I don't care about the materialistic belongings, I want my children," Maitani said.

It's been two days and many are still buried under the debris. Maitani's children are not yet in the list of the dead but there is hardly any hope left.

As a domestic help Maitani earns Rs 4000 and more than half of that goes into rent. All she has to her name are two cylinders, one trunk, a bed and barely enough money to get her through the week, let alone month.

But she mourns for her real wealth - her children.

"We have lost everything now, nothing is left," said Shankari, Maitani's daughter.

Rehmat lost his two brothers and seven friends, all from the same village in Bihar. And now, he doesn't have the money to travel home.

The survivors of the disaster have been shifted to a make shift camp. Earning less than two dollars a day, they live below the poverty line. They have lost whatever little belongings they possessed. But that's not what they want to recover; they want the news of those they loved.

Meanwhile, the owner of the building, Amritpal Singh, who was arrested on Tuesday has been sent to two-day police custody.

Being provided with food and water until yesterday, the survivors have been forced to take shelter under a community hall which was booked for a wedding. Today, the hall is unavailable.

A city Maitani came penniless to has taken away a lot more.
.