'Abbu, please save me'-- from frantic phone calls for help to family reunions that won't happen

"I am trapped. Won't come out alive," were the final words of 28-year-old Bihar native Shakir Hussain, a father of three, during his phone call to his pregnant wife before a cloud of toxic smoke overpowered his senses during a major fire at a building in north Delhi on Sunday.

Zakir Hussain, 32, recalled the nightmarish experience of his younger brother who was brought dead to the LNJP Hospital here after the horrific blaze that has claimed 43 lives and left many others injured.

The Hussains, hailing from Madhubani district of Bihar, had planned to go shopping on Sunday, but fate willed otherwise.

"After getting trapped in the billowing smoke, Shakir made the last call to his pregnant wife and told her -- 'I am trapped. Won't come out alive'," recalled the tearful brother.

Shakir leaves behind three children, two girls and a boy.

"He was about to have another child, but he left his kids fatherless," Zakir said.

Shakir had been working in a cap-manufacturing unit on the fourth floor of the factory in Anaj Mandi for the last three years, the brother saidafter identifying his body at the mortuary.

Nafees (58), who lost his two sons in the tragedy, said they had come to Delhi from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh six years ago. They operated a carry bag-manufacturing unit on the second floor in which around 25 people were employed.

"I got a call from Imran (35), my elder son, who said 'Abbu, a massive fire has erupted in the building. I won't be able to come out alive. Please save me'," Nafees said with a lump in his throat.

"I asked him to call the fire brigade and the call ended soon after. He didn't pick up my calls again," he said.

According to Nafees, what would pain him the most was that he did not get to speak to his younger son 32-year-old Ikram.

The scene was equally grim at Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital (LHMC Hospital) where nine of the victims were brought dead, besides one injured person.

Family members, fellow villagers and acquaintances were frantically looking for survivors, from one hospital to another, and urged police authorities to help in tracing them.

Bihar native Wajid Ali sank down to the floor in front of the mortuary at LHMC Hospital after seeing the body of his young cousin and learning that his two brothers are untraceable after the massive blaze.

Ali, in his 20s, said he works in a bag-making unit in the same area. He woke up to the sad news and rushed from one hospital to another looking for his family members, only to find his cousin's body at the Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital (LHMC),
Lok Sabha MP Verma demanded that a "high-level inquiry should be done in 48 hours and tell us what were the lapses, and the people responsible for it"