After fire: ‘Baba is not dead… he is resting’
Families recall loved ones the day after plaza fire.
LAHORE:
The fire that burned down shops and inventories worth millions of rupees in Urdu Bazaar on Monday also deprived many families of their loved ones.
One of the bereaved is three-year-old Shayan, son of the late Shehzad, a resident of Joye Shah Road. The family visited Khalid Plaza’s ruins on Tuesday looking for his belongings after having buried him.
Shahyan kept saying, “My baba was sick… he is resting for sometime.”
His brother Imran said, “I was there when the plaza caught fire. It was such a horrible sight that I do not even want to recall it.”
“I thought that my brother would receive treatment for his burns and get well… I was unable even to talk to him for the last time.”
The grief-stricken family of Muhammad Nauman, one of the victims, also showed up at the plaza to mourn their loss. Nauman is survived by his wife and three daughters – Ghazala, 3, Mahrukh, 4 and four-month-old Laiba.
His brother Irfan alleged that Rescue 1122 was no where to be seen.
“Along with my son, we lost all our savings in the fire,” Nauman’s mother told The Express Tribune.
Muhammad Ishaq, a trader who survived the inferno but lost his merchandise, said “I owned a watch shop … all that I had earned and saved over 40 years burned down in front of my eyes.”
The government has announced a Rs500,000 compensation each for the victims, including the shop owners. Traders at the plaza said the amount was not enough.
“This is peanuts,” said Haji Muhammad Usman, one of the shopkeepers. He requested the government to raise the amount to help them rebuild their shops.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2014.
The fire that burned down shops and inventories worth millions of rupees in Urdu Bazaar on Monday also deprived many families of their loved ones.
One of the bereaved is three-year-old Shayan, son of the late Shehzad, a resident of Joye Shah Road. The family visited Khalid Plaza’s ruins on Tuesday looking for his belongings after having buried him.
Shahyan kept saying, “My baba was sick… he is resting for sometime.”
His brother Imran said, “I was there when the plaza caught fire. It was such a horrible sight that I do not even want to recall it.”
“I thought that my brother would receive treatment for his burns and get well… I was unable even to talk to him for the last time.”
The grief-stricken family of Muhammad Nauman, one of the victims, also showed up at the plaza to mourn their loss. Nauman is survived by his wife and three daughters – Ghazala, 3, Mahrukh, 4 and four-month-old Laiba.
His brother Irfan alleged that Rescue 1122 was no where to be seen.
“Along with my son, we lost all our savings in the fire,” Nauman’s mother told The Express Tribune.
Muhammad Ishaq, a trader who survived the inferno but lost his merchandise, said “I owned a watch shop … all that I had earned and saved over 40 years burned down in front of my eyes.”
The government has announced a Rs500,000 compensation each for the victims, including the shop owners. Traders at the plaza said the amount was not enough.
“This is peanuts,” said Haji Muhammad Usman, one of the shopkeepers. He requested the government to raise the amount to help them rebuild their shops.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2014.