‘Thought my leg would get severed’: Survivor of Satya Niketan building collapse recounts tragedy

Jammu, Sep 10 (SocialNews.XYZ) Days after the building collapse incident in Delhi's Satya Niketan claimed seven lives, Jammu resident Nitish, who survived the tragedy, recounted the experience of being trapped in the debris for hours before he could finally be pulled out by the rescue team.

Nitish, an undergraduate student of Delhi University's Motilal Nehru College, shared an accommodation with another boy, Neeraj, on the second floor of the building.

Speaking to IANS, he mentioned that there were nine to ten students inside the building when it collapsed. "There was some construction work going on in the basement," he added.

"I was sitting with Neeraj in his room when the building collapsed. It happened all of a sudden; we didn't get any time to react," he said

Recounting the horrific moments, he said: "While we were trapped under the debris, the boy near me called his seniors and sent the location to them. I didn't have my phone with me, but thankfully he did. Upon receiving the information, the seniors then came to the site, spotted us and called the rescue workers to where we were trapped."

"The rescue itself took hours...while my upper body could be brought out, one of my legs got stuck inside. It took a lot of time to bring it out. I even thought my leg would get severed, but thankfully that did not happen," he said.

Nitish said that at one point, while being trapped underneath the rubble, he had lost hope of survival.

"Some people were saying that the building adjacent to it would also fall; if that had happened, there was no chance of survival," he said, adding that he heaved a sigh of relief after being rescued.

Also, Nitish said that his flatmate, Neeraj, has undergone two surgeries and that doctors have said that he is recovering.

Recalling his meeting with Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, he said: "She assured us to provide any kind of help that we might need and even said that we can reach out to her directly."

Further, the DU student urged authorities to keep a check on the condition of old buildings, saying: "What happened with us should not be repeated."

Meanwhile, Nitish's mother said that she got to know about the tragedy after receiving a message from one of his friends.

"His friend told my daughter about the tragedy, following which she started crying but didn't tell me anything. After I called back on that number, I got to know that the building had collapsed and that Nitish was trapped under the debris; there was no other information about him," she told IANS.

She further said: "The next moment, without thinking anything or asking any other detail about the incident, I rushed to the airport. Nitish's sister and cousin had also reached the airport; they booked their tickets and took an evening flight to Delhi. I returned home as I was so depressed with the news; I had left my documents behind."

Nitish's mother said that she, along with other family members, took the subsequent flights to the capital.

"We had reached the hospital by 9.30 p.m. that day. His cousins had reached early and had informed me that Nitish was fine, but still I could not relax till I saw him being treated in the hospital," she recalled.

His mother added that by the time the family reached the hospital, three students had already died. "I was shocked to see their bodies; I still can't get the sight out of my mind," she said.

Source: IANS