Petrol Pump Employee Killed In Mumbai Billboard Collapse Got Job Few Months Back: Family

Sachin Yadav (23), one of the victims of the hoarding collapse, had landed a job as an attendant at the ill-fated BPCL petrol pump in Ghatkopar just a couple of months ago, a family member said on Tuesday.

Yadav is one of the 14 people who were killed when a 120 x 120 square feet illegal hoarding collapsed on a petrol pump in the Chheda Nagar area due to gusty winds during dust storms and rains that lashed the city on Monday.

At least 75 others were injured in the incident.

Sachin, father to a three-month-old baby, had joined as an attendant at the petrol pump just a couple of months ago, said his cousin Sunil Yadav.

"I was unaware of the accident till someone shared a video on my WhatsApp group. I realised that Sachin was working at the petrol pump and was worried. I started calling him frantically, but my calls went unanswered," Sunil said.

Sunil later reached the scene amid the chaos, and a police official asked him to contact Rajawadi Hospital, where some of the victims and the injured were taken.

"We identified Sachin's body and claimed it. We are taking the body to Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh," Sunil said.

Workers from the nearby construction site were the first rescuers at the scene, who rushed the injured to nearby hospitals.

"A woman approached us asking us to help get her husband out from under the hoarding. She was distraught, and we helped get him out, but he almost lost his leg," one of the workers said.

Rakesh Gujaral was one of the lucky few rescued in time and escaped unhurt.

Gujaral, who was at the petrol pump to fill CNG, said, "I was trapped inside my car, but managed to contact my family members on the phone and kept honking to get their attention when they arrived at the scene." A police constable said people living nearby assembled here to shoot videos and take pictures and selfies at the site. Around 30-35 vehicles and some people were still trapped under the hoarding. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)