ISLAMABAD, Oct 9: Relatives and friends of people trapped under the debris of the ill-fated Margalla Towers suddenly had something to cheer about on Sunday night.
A survivor in his 20s, said to be named Hammad, was brought out unscathed from the mountain of rubble with the help of the British rescue team. The young man emerged chanting Allaho Akbar (God is great) on a half-moonlit night provoking an instant outburst of joy coupled with several rounds of loud applause by hundreds of people present at the site. For a couple of minutes one could only hear Naara-i-Takbir: Allaho Akbar and tears of joy welled up in many eyes. A battery of cameramen and reporters from the local and foreign media raced towards the ambulance to capture the ‘miracle’ moment. Within seconds paramedics shifted the weak-looking survivor into the ambulance and it zoomed past the crowd waiting there for hours to just catch a glimpse of the survivors.
According to one Naval officer present on site, Hammad is a building painter and he was on the fifth floor of the building when it collapsed. Others said Hammad was a resident of the collapsed tower.
The British rescue team that was assisted by police commandos and Red Crescent, looked extremely fatigued but equally relieved that it was able to save one more life. There were conflicting figures floating around about the survivors rescued on Sunday. Hammad was the fifth survivor of the day, according to one count. Reportedly another man by the name of Akhlaq, who was in his mid-thirties, was recovered about an hour later putting the total number of rescued before midnight at six.
Apparently just an hour before he was recovered, Hammad had shouted from inside that he was alive. On hearing the shouts the rescue team immediately threw in a mike through a small opening from where came his cry. He conveyed to them through the device that he was alive and unhurt.
Then the team started to dig a tunnel in the concrete to pull him out. It worked.
The British team used its communication devices to learn that there was another Hammad trapped inside along with his sister Kinza, another sibling and parents.
They heard the siblings, Hammad Sajjad and Kinza, communicate while trapped in separate rooms.
A Chinese rescue team that arrived here on Sunday afternoon with advanced search and detection instruments, sniffer dogs and communication devices took over the late night shift of the operation.
The operation continued through the night amid powerful floodlights as dozens of boy scouts, volunteers, military men, police commandos, silent spectators and well-wishers of the trapped people looked on.
Relatives and friends of the victims stood silently praying and hoping against hope that the next survivor to be recovered would be their dear one. “We are just waiting here, hoping that they will make it”, said two teary-eyed young girls waiting for their friends and relatives trapped inside.
There were many other young men and women waiting there in hope throughout the day and were determined to stay through the night. “He’s a tough one and I’m sure he will come out in the next five minutes,” said a university student of her class fellow who lived in a sixth floor apartment.
A number of voluntary women psychiatrists and social workers were seen offering counselling services to the aggrieved relatives and acquaintances of the victims.
Around midnight when this correspondent contacted the Control Room headed by the Deputy Commissioner of Islamabad, the officer on duty pointed to the possibility of three to four more survivors. However, other estimates put it between 40 to 50.
Meanwhile, many are mindful that as time passes the chances of surviving beneath the concrete rubble get dimmer.
