Published On : Sat, Aug 17th, 2019

“With vibration waves at our shop, we thought it was bomb explosion”: Venders on Poonam Mall tragedy

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Nagpur: “It was around 11.45pm on Friday night. We were done with the costumers and were winding up our stuff when we heard a huge impact along with vibration wave, so severe that it almost shattered the front glass of the shop. At first, we thought it was some bomb explosion. However, when I, along with rest of the staff went out, we saw people running in erratic manner and debris of Poonam Mall as it collapsed,” says Khemraj Raghuwanshi of Drink n Dream, a cold beverage shop adjacent to the mall.

It’s been more than twelve hours since the Poonam Mall tragedy occurred. Though locals and nearby venders are still in shock about the incident last night. With police deployed on the spot, citizens are visiting the mall premises to check the authenticity of the news posted in the early hours of Saturday.

During the incident, Domino’s and Elements were functioning at the mall and were attending their last few customers when the tragedy occurred.

“We were at the shop when we heard the huge impact. It felt like a major accident. All the staff along with consumers fled the premises following the noise. When he went out we found our mall’s guard lying under the debris fallen from the mall,” said Vijay Mussaddi owner of Elements and he further added, “The guard would seat near the parking and never leave his spot. However, last night he left his spot and went to the exact spot where debris fell on him.”

Mussaddi further asserted that “There is a need for a proper inquiry into the matter along with the forensic inspection of the building as leak alone can’t be the reason behind this tragedy.”

A local source told Nagpur Today that, “The noise from the mall has become regular affair from the past few weeks. Though we anticipated some construction work and contacted the mall guards many times, however, even they were unknown about the reason.”

By Shubham Nagdeve