Haldi ended at 1 am. At 2:15, a crane crashed onto bride’s home: ‘We jumped from top floor’

3 min learnUp to date: Aug 21, 2026 06:38 PM IST

Haldi celebrations had simply wrapped up on the Nazim home, a slender two-storey house within the Qureishi Nagar slum adjoining to the Kurla-Trombay freight railway tracks. The entire household had arrived from Uttar Pradesh for the large day. They settled in for the night time, round 15 folks squeezed between the flooring. However they might stay awake for lengthy.

Round 2:15 am, they had been jolted awake from their sleep. The increase of a crane 17 storeys tall was hanging over their heads. It had toppled over and crashed onto the bride’s home in Kurla.

At the least 12 individuals had been injured, principally with minor accidents, and 4 homes had been broken. The beam additionally broke the overhead electrical (OHE) wires over the tracks, however as it’s primarily a items line, there was no impression on the railways.

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Farheen Shaikh, 19, the bride, mentioned she and the household needed to soar from the highest ground to flee.

She mentioned, “We had been pressured awake by a loud noise and issues falling on us. To get out of the home, we needed to soar from the highest ground down. After which there was numerous chaos, as everybody had come out, folks had been attempting to get others out, and others had been warning to not go close to the damaged OHE wires as they carry numerous electrical energy.”

4 homes had been broken within the crane collapse incident. (Specific Photograph by Ganesh Shirshekar)

Farheen’s soon-to-be mother-in-law was amongst six individuals injured within the crane collapse.

On the time of the incident, the crane was being mounted to arrange for demolition work of a dilapidated constructing within the Bhandari Metallurgy compound behind the slums, the Mumbai Metropolitan Area Improvement Authority (MMRDA) officers mentioned.

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“Whereas the crane was being positioned on the website, it tilted and fell in direction of an adjoining construction. The bottom on the location was delicate, which seems to have affected the steadiness of the crane,” mentioned officers.

In the home subsequent door, Raju Shankar Gaud wakened after one thing fell on him and noticed the huge beam hanging just some metres up from his head.

“I wakened when one thing fell on me, and I might see the crane’s large beam hanging two toes in entrance of my face,” mentioned Raju Shankar Gaud, 30, who was sleeping on the highest ground.

Downstairs, his spouse Aarti began in search of their three youngsters.

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“I assumed my youngsters had died. Issues had fallen, every thing had gone pitch darkish.”

“My head nonetheless hurts, and I can’t assume straight,” mentioned Shankar.

The 2 injured, Mustaq Qureshi, 57, and Nasreen Qureshi, 62, had been taken to the non-public Aryan Hospital close by, as they’d head accidents and wanted stitches. Neighbours rushed out and pulled the residents out of their houses.

Within the morning, many with haldi-smeared fingers began to take away no matter items they might get well from their collapsed houses.

Sabah Virani is a journalist with The Indian Specific’ Mumbai bureau, masking infrastructure, housing and concrete points. Within the realms of technical fields, she brings out human tales and the tempo of change ongoing within the metropolis.

Experience

Specialised Position: Monitoring infrastructure in Mumbai and the broader Mumbai Metropolitan Area (MMR), Sabah’s reporting tracks progress on numerous initiatives. From bridges to metros, she mixes technical particulars with resourceful data.

Core protection areas: Sabah retains a detailed eye on the actions of the Mumbai Metropolitan Area Improvement Authority (MMRDA) and its initiatives throughout the MMR, together with the metros, highway initiatives, bridges, the bullet practice, pod taxi, its position as a planning authority, and extra. She additionally watches for developments from the Maharashtra State Highway Improvement Company (MSRDC), Metropolis and Industrial Improvement Company of Maharashtra (CIDCO) and the GoM’s City Improvement division.

Housing: Sabah additionally tracks developments in housing, notably the workings of the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA). She additionally retains a eager watch on the large redevelopment initiatives ongoing in Mumbai, together with the Dharavi Redevelopment Mission, Motilal Nagar, Kamathipura, BDD Chawl redevelopment, amongst others.

Often, she experiences on the surroundings, biodiversity, waste, arts and tradition.

Expertise: Previous to working for the Indian Specific, Sabah lined the municipality, civic points and miscellaneous for Hindustan Occasions. Earlier than that, she lined all issues Mumbai for the net publication Citizen Issues. She has additionally labored as an editorial assistant at FiftyTwo.in.

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