Five members of a single family lost their lives in the building collapse at Mahim on Monday; two of these casualties were children. The deceased have been identified as Zaibunnisa Lakha (76), Mobin Lakha (18), Zeba Lakha (16), and children Anam Mithani (11) and Mariam Mithani (6).
On the fateful evening, three male members of the family: Aslam Lakha (54), Mobin Lakha (18) and Hamza Lakha (19) had stepped out to offer namaz in the nearby dargah. After offering prayers, Mobin’s father Aslam and his nephew Hamza decided to stay back in the dargah, while Mobin decided to go home immediately. Within minutes of Mobin entering the house, the building started to collapse.
The Lakha family, which occupied the first floor of the building, was a joint family, and about eight to nine members of the family were present in the building at the time of the mishap. Aslam’s niece Mariam and nephew Anam, who had come spend their vacations with the Lakha family, were also killed in the collapse.
The children were supposed to return to their home in Mohd Ali Road the same night.
It took almost 18 hours for the rescuers to recover their bodies from the rubble.
When they were taken out at around 6 pm on Tuesday, there were cries of mourning and wailing among the relatives. Zaibunnisa was the first casualty in the mishap.
One of the family members said, “Our family seems to be cursed.”
“Twenty years ago we had lost three of our own in a road accident when they were coming back from Ajmer Sharif Dargah. And now this.”
The family of noted lawyer Rizwan Merchant, too, saw a rather brutal end. Mr Merchant’s mother died due to decapitation, while his wife and 13-year-old son Farhad also perished in the mishap.