![\"South](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-131474789,imgsize-119964,width-400,height-225,resizemode-72\/one-of-the-friends-vishal-l.jpg\" "\\"One")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nNEW DELHI: Beneath a mountain of fallen concrete, a shattered table became a sanctuary where two friends traded words to keep the darkness at bay. Even as the air grew thin and his own limbs went numb, 24-year-old engineer and Indian Engineering Services (IES) aspirant Vishal\u2019s final plea to rescuers was: \u201cSave my friend first.\u201dSpeaking to TOI from his bed at AIIMS Trauma Centre, Vishal recounted over three hours of suffocation, agony and uncertainty after the Saidulajab building collapsed as they were eating dinner. \u201cI could hear people screaming from under the rubble,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I didn\u2019t know if anyone could hear me.\u201dVishal, who attends coaching classes nearby and lives in a PG in the neighbourhood, had gone to the mess next door with friends for what would become their final meal together. Two of his friends, Kapil and Nalin, died in the collapse. Vishal, Anuj and Aditya were injured, while another friend, Ashutosh, escaped.\u201cIt was around 7.30pm and we were getting ready to leave,\u201d Vishal said. \u201cMess aunty Parvati came inside and raised an alarm about the collapse. Before we could react, debris started falling all at once. Everything fell in seconds.\u201d The next thing he remembers is darkness.\u201cI lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was trapped,\u201d he said. \u201cA table had shielded my upper body, but pillars had crushed my legs. My right leg was buried deep in the debris.\u201dAnother pillar crashed near his chest. \u201cAfter that, I couldn\u2019t move at all,\u201d he said. \u201cEven trying to shift my body was impossible.\u201d Somewhere nearby, his friend Anuj was also trapped.\u201cWe kept talking to each other,\u201d Vishal recalled. \u201cWe kept saying, \u2018stay awake, stay awake.\u2019 Just hearing his voice gave me hope. At one point I told him, \u2018 so jaate hain, bachna hoga toh bach jaayenge .\u2019\u201dDesperate to contact someone, he tried to locate a phone. \u201cI couldn\u2019t feel most of my body. I asked Anuj if he could reach his phone, but he said he couldn\u2019t move at all.\u201d Somehow, we kept trying. And when he checked, there was no network,\u201d said Vishal.In and out of consciousness, he lost track of time. \u201cThe next thing I remember is waking up to the sound of sirens. It must have been around 9pm. Soon, rescue teams located me.\u201d But locating him was just the beginning. \u201cThey first managed to cut and lift the pillar crushing my right leg,\u201d he said. \u201cAs they removed the debris, they told me that moving another piece resting on my left leg could be dangerous.\u201d\u201cMy mind was fogged,\u201d Vishal added. \u201cMost of my body had already been freed by then,\u201d he said, pausing. \u201cI thought I was definitely going to survive. So I told them, \u2018pehle Anuj ko nikalo (save him first)\u2019.\u201dVishal, like many other witnesses, said that the rescuers lacked resources. \u201cThey were doing everything they could,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it was clear they were also scrambling for equipment.\u201dOnce he had been taken out of the rubble safely, Vishal said he was asked for his name and contact details of his family. \u201cI kept losing consciousness even then. I remember a cop managed to retrieve my phone nearby, while I gave them my details.\u201dRushed in an ambulance, he said, \u201creality completely set in when I finally made it to the hospital around 11pm\u201d. He is recovering with multiple fractures, while Anuj remains critical, fighting for his life in the ICU.Standing beside Vishal\u2019s bed, feeding him lunch was his elder sister, Lovely Devi, who rushed to Delhi from Kanpur after being contacted by his friends. His exam is scheduled for January next year.As he clutched a hospital blanket and looked at his heavily bruised and swollen legs, Vishal said the collapse should serve as a wake-up call. \u201cI just want strict action against illegal buildings,\u201d he said. \u201cHow many more people have to die before something changes? How many more such incidents will it take before this problem is finally solved?\u201d<\/div>\n