Abdul Rahman, a 21-year-old employee of a coaching center in Lucknow, was one of those who perished in the fire that destroyed a commercial building in Aliganj area on Monday. Rahman's mother, Fahmida, is a homemaker, and his father, Afzal, has been paralysed for years.
"The family's sole earner was Abdul Rahman," Salman Siddique, a friend, stated.
"He worked hard to support the household, his father is bedridden, and everything depended on him," he added.
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Anguished relatives gathered throughout the day at King George's Medical University's (KGMU) Trauma Centre, where the bodies were brought for identification. As they were asked to verify their identities, family members sobbed, and many of them found it difficult to deal with the loss in the packed hospital hallways, reported TOI.
For Alambagh resident Prabhjot Singh, the tragedy revolved around his son Sukhmani Singh's last phone call from inside the building while the smoke spread.
"Please save me, Papa. I doubt I'll make it out alive," Sukhmani informed him. "We are choking."
Before finding that his kid had passed away, Singh hurried to the scene and spent hours searching, displaying his son's picture to police, rescuers, and onlookers.
"He was an energetic and happy youngster. He dreamt of becoming an animator in the film industry,” Singh said.
Mohammad Shahzan, a 19-year-old man, also perished in the fire, according to his father Mohammad Imran.
"He had three sisters and was my only son. The loss is intolerable," Imran remarked.
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Aditya Srivastava, a student, was first reported missing. According to friends, he called during the fire, begging to be rescued and stating that he was trapped, but he was unreachable.
Before passing out, his mother, Kalpana Srivastava, hurried to the scene, sobbing and requesting information from those nearby. She later confirmed his passing, stating that although rescue efforts were in progress when she got there, her son had not survived.
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