15 injured as Bandra slum collapses after LPG blast, two critical

"I saw God during the five hours I was trapped. I screamed out to people to pull me out, only to be told, again and again, to wait," recalls Hasina Shaikh, 53, rescued from beneath piles of rubble after her slum home in Bharat Nagar, in Bandra East, collapsed early on Friday.

- Sabah Virani

Shaikh was among 15 residents whose lives hung in the balance for hours as they waited for rescue personnel to find them. Tragedy struck the sprawling slum colony, where a ground-plus-two storey structure was torn apart by an LPG explosion at 5.40am. The gas had likely leaked all night long and ignited when one of the residents lit a stove.

The fire brigade, civic officials, police and other rescue personnel rushed to Bharat Nagar after the explosion, which took place in a unit on the first level of the slum structure. It was occupied by Rehana Ansari, 65, and her husband Mehmood Ansari, 68, who bore the impact of the blast, suffering 50-60% burns.

Rescue operations were underway until Ilam. 13 injured residents are being treated at Bhabha Hospital in Bandra West, while the two critically injured residents are at KEM Hospital. There were no casualties.

Hasina Shaikh, 53, and her son, Asif Allabash, 25, also living on the first level, waited longest to be rescued.