Delhi: Bihar worker killed in Daryaganj building collapse tied knot just a month ago

New Delhi, Aug 20 (PTI) Zubair, who came to Delhi from Bihar's Madhepura district to build a future for his new family, will never return home.

The 24-year-old, who got married to 20-year-old Rajia Khatun just a month ago, was one of three workers who were killed after a portion of a building collapsed in central Delhi’s Daryaganj area on Wednesday, making Rajia a widow unaware of the tragedy that struck her.

"Zubair's meagre earning of Rs 700 a day was a big help for his newly-wedded wife and family members," Mohammad Alum, a a relative of the deceased, told PTI.

Outside the emergency ward of Lok Nayak Hospital, the deceased's relatives sat on the pavement in disbelief, some crying, others staring at the sky silently in despair.

"Zubair got married only a month ago. He wanted to earn and build a home for him and his wife, give the family a good life, but then this happened," Alum rued.

Zubair’s wife, who is in Bihar, still does not know that her husband is gone.

“She is in the village, thinking that her husband has suffered an injury and will return to her. How will we tell her? She has become a widow just a month of her marriage,” said Umar Khan, a relative of Rajia working at a farmhouse in Chhatarpur.

Umar said he rushed to the hospital after he got a call from Zubair’s father-in-law about the accident.

“There were 15-16 labourers there, yet fate decided to knock on our doors,” he said.

The grieving relatives did not just face one loss but also had to bid farewell to Mohammed Tauqir, Zubair’s uncle, who also died in the collapse.

Tauqir, 32, came to Delhi just a month ago from Bihar' Madhubani district along with Zubair. He leaves behind a wife and four small children, daughters aged five and three, and sons aged four and one.

After his father passed away when he was still young, Tauqir looked after the family.

“He was my a pillar of strength to my sister. He worked from a young age to take care of his family, but now he is gone. What will happen to his wife, his children, to our family,” asked a sobbing Mehrun Khatun, one of Zubair's aunts.

“He was so responsible... The sole breadwinner. Now we have nothing left," she said.

On the road outside the hospital, Mehrun's son Irshad (18) slumped on the ground, his head in his hands.

“We must be extremely ill-fated for this to happen. He just left us...,” Irshad said, even as he tried to calm his mother.

The third victim has been identified as Gul Sagar (30) from Bihar's Saharsa district, whose family members are yet to reach Delhi.

"We do not know about his family yet, but if they come, we will be here for them,” said Umar, who has been helping Tauqir and Zubair’s family members.

The relatives said the family’s hopes rested on the uncle-nephew duo, who worked together at the site and earned about Rs 700 a day each.

“They worked hard but never complained. They were just beginning to build their lives. They were the reason we had a roof on our heads,” a relative said.

By the evening on Wednesday, the compound outside the hospital was filled with relatives and friends of the victims.

Women sat in groups, crying, while the men stood silently in the corners. A few tried to console each other but the weight of the tragedy was overwhelming.

For Tauqir’s four children, the loss is especially devastating.

"He carried all of us on his shoulder. Now the children are left fatherless, the wife is left a widow, and the mother is left without her son. What will we do, who will feed them,” Mehrun asked.

The family members said they are aware that the legal procedures and compensation payment will take time.

But for now, the grief is unbearable.

"These men went out to earn but never returned. We sent them to work, and we got their bodies back," said a family elder.

The collapse of the three-storey structure has left three households without their breadwinners, and an extended family struggling to find answers. PTI SGV BM SSJ ARI