Pregnant mom, family killed, 9-year-old orphaned

Mumbai: Among those who died in the Hussaini building collapse on Thursday morning was Sakina Chasmawala (50), a homemaker who was five months pregnant.

Chasmawala was to travel to Dubai on Friday for a family function ahead of Bakri-Id. Her husband, Abbas Chashmewala (71), and their youngest daughter, Amutullah (3), were in the family’s third-floor apartment when the building collapsed. While Sakina’s body was recovered by rescue personnel at around noon, the bodies of Abbas and Amutullah were recovered hours later, at around 7 pm. Sakina’s elder daughter Zainab (9) had a lucky escape as she was attending her primary school when the collapse took place but is now an orphan. She is currently being cared for by her relatives.

“Sakina was my daughter’s sister-in-law and a very cheerful person. She was very excited as she was supposed to travel to Dubai to meet her parents regarding a family ceremony and ahead of Id celebrations,” said Ismail Bharmal, Sakina’s relative. Sakina lived with her husband, two daughters and in-laws.

“Zainab was in school when the incident occurred, now she is the only survivor in the family,” said Mr Bharmal. According to Chasmawala’s relatives, the family was supposed to move to a new house at Dockyard after the Muslim festival of Muharram.

Meanwhile, Mohhamed Shafiq Quereshi, a shop owner, lost both his shops in the collapse. Mr Quereshi used to run a fastfood restaurant and a catering centre. “The building came crashing down and both my galas, where we do our catering business and the back portion of the fastfood corner is completely destroyed,” said Mr Quereshi.