But fate had other ideas: Victim’s relatives

Anil Kumar (25), a migrant laborer who recently sustained burns at a Rewari manufacturing business, had no idea that fate had other ideas when he called his younger brother Devanand seeking a job at Dharuhera from Gonda (UP) more than a month ago.

Devanand was one of the three employees who passed away from their wounds at the PGIMS yesterday night after fighting for their lives for five days. There are now ten victims. “Had I known the fate that awaited him, I would not have called him to work at the factory,” an anguished Anil said as he stood outside the postmortem home to collect his brother’s remains.

“My brother was completely burned in the explosion, and I was little hurt since I was working a distance away. At the time, we were wearing gloves and lacked any other safety equipment. Nobody was able to flee quickly after the explosion as it became dark,” the distraught brother said.

After being brought to a hospital in Dharuhera, Devanand’s serious condition led to a referral to the PGIMS. We are utterly destroyed by the event. The owner of the plant has given us some money, but not enough. A few other laborers suffered the loss of family members in the blast. As recompense, the owner need to provide them long-term positions,” he said.

Manoj, an additional Gonda victim, did not have the same luck as his brother Firoj, who fled the facility just before the explosion. Twenty minutes before the explosion, I headed for my room. “I had recently arrived when I learned of the heartbreaking news,” he said.