After 36 hrs of darkness, newlyweds live a miracle

After 36 hrs of darkness, newlyweds live a miracle
JIGNESH VASAVADA

AHMEDABAD, JAN 28: They were buried under debris after their four-storey apartment collapsed during Friday morning's killer quake. Almost 36 hours later, Chirag and Piyalee Patel -- married just a month ago -- were brought out alive from the pile of rubble.

Being alive, they say, is a miracle. The ordeal of battling the beam that almost fell on their heads and being confined underneath piles of concrete has left them shaken, but never have they been so glad. They have reason: bodies were brought out around them, but 27-year-old Chirag and 26-year-old Piyalee escaped with a thumb fracture and a leg fracture respectively.

Narrating the horrifying experience, Chirag says, ``We live on the second floor of the building. It was around 8.45 am when my mother knocked on the bedroom door. When I went to open it I felt the building shake -- it was like an airplane flying through turbulence. My mother and younger sister Priyanka, standing 40 feet away, were urging us to run as there was a quake.'' He remembers pulling out his wife and asking her to ``catch corners.'' ``I had read somewhere that in such situations corners are relatively safer than other parts of the house, which is why I pulled my wife and stood with my back to a pillar,'' he says.

That was when the building came crashing down. ``My last memories were of my sister and mother huddling together. The overhead tank had come down and a seven-inch thick beam came hurtling down -- only to rest four feet above our head. Our legs were knee-deep in debris. Both of us were trapped in approximately 1.5 sq feet area,'' Chirag recalls. What made the situation worse was the fact that the couple continually heard other debris fall on top of the beam. ``We did panic, but death was the last thing on our minds,'' he says.

Then began the long wait -- with no food, no water. Luckily the pile that that they were buried in had an airhole that allowed the tow to breathe. ``The pain in our legs became unbearable as time passed. However, we realised that we had to come out of this alive, come what may,'' Chirag says. His 26-year-old wife turned to God for solace and strength. ``This proved to be the turning point. I pulled Piyalee with all my strength and her legs were freed. I too somehow managed to claw my feet free. We twitched our toes to ensure that our toes were fine -- it was reassuring to feel life in our legs and think that they would not be amputed,'' he remembers, looking at his wife.

Meanwhile, people around were crying out for help. ``We screamed in chorus for a long time, but quietened when exhausted. I gave Piyalee a stone to keep hitting the wall and make noises. We also yanked out a rod from somewhere and began hitting a window frame. The sound of cranes at work could be heard and we hoped that somebody would hear us.'' However, the sound of the crane proved to be a major fright too. ``Sometime, probably in the night, I could hear the cranes right above us. This was frightening as the rocks could crush us right under. We shouted and the cranes stopped,'' he says. But then hours passed with no sign of any help forthcoming. ``We were frustated with the pace of work and reassured ourselves that the entire city, probably the State, might have been struck. Wondered if there would be enough equipment to help everyone?''

Clustered together in those closed confines, the couple talked about their month-old marriage and all their happy times. ``We spoke about the programmes we had attended last night and recalled other happy moments. We even cracked a couple of jokes as we tried to forget the situation. We prayed and waited,'' Chirag reminisces.

Time was estimated through hunger cycles and sleeping patterns. When the noise died down, they ``assumed that it was night.'' ``When the birds chirped I heard and realised it was morning. We could hear everything, but could not see,'' he says.

Finally, the rumbling began again. Stones were pushed aside and a voice calling `Namita' was heard. Piyalee shouted out that she was trapped underneath, after which rescue efforts were concentrated on that particular area. ``We were pulled out slowly amid thunderous applause from all those present around. It was a miracle that we were alive -- and the miracle was brought about by the RAF, Fire Brigade and Army as well as prayers of friends and relatives,,'' relates Chirag.

His sister and mother were recovered four hours after the quake -- Priyanka suffered a spinal injury while his mother escaped unhurt.