Papa, please save me: Last words as smoke traps victims in Aliganj

Lucknow: Among those who lost their lives in the fire that swept through a commercial building in Aliganj on Monday was 21-year-old Abdul Rahman, an employee at the centre.The only earning member of his family, Rahman’s father, Afzal, has been paralysed for years, while his mother, Fahmida, is a homemaker.“Abdul was the only earning member of the family. Everything depended on him, his father is bedridden, and he worked hard to support the household,” said Salman Siddique, a friend.At the Trauma Centre of King George’s Medical University (KGMU), where the bodies were brought for identification, anguished relatives gathered through the day. Family members broke down as they were asked to confirm identities, with many struggling to process the loss amid the hospital’s crowded corridors.For Prabhjot Singh, a resident of Alambagh, the tragedy centred on a final phone call from his son, Sukhmani Singh, made from inside the building as smoke spread. “Papa, please save me. I don’t think I will survive. We are suffocating,” Sukhmani told him.Singh rushed to the spot and searched for hours, showing his son’s photograph to rescuers, police personnel and bystanders before learning his son died. “He was a lively and cheerful child.

He dreamt of becoming an animator in the film industry,” Singh said.Mohammad Imran said his 19-year-old son, Mohammad Shahzan, also died in the blaze. “He was my only son and had three sisters. The loss is unbearable,” Imran said.Student Aditya Srivastava was initially reported missing. Friends said he called during the fire, saying he was trapped and pleading to be rescued, but could not be reached again. His mother, Kalpana Srivastava, rushed to the scene, crying and asking those around her for any information before collapsing. Later, she confirmed his death, saying rescue operations were under way when she arrived, but her son did not survive.