Kolkata: For nearly 12 hours, 19-year-old Mannu Kumar lay trapped under tonnes of concrete, twisted steel and broken masonry after an under-construction warehouse collapsed in Taratala on Wednesday. Buried deep in the basement, the migrant worker from Bihar’s Munger was surrounded by darkness, dust and debris, with no way of knowing whether rescuers could reach him.His cries for help could not travel through the rubble. Above him, rescue teams worked through the wreckage, but they did not know where he was. His cellphone had lost network connectivity soon after the collapse, cutting off his only possible link to the outside world.As the rescue operation continued into the night, Mannu drifted in and out of consciousness. He could hear the sound of machinery and rescue workers, but his voice remained muffled beneath slabs of concrete. With every passing hour, his chances of survival appeared to fade.Then, briefly, his cellphone caught a faint network signal.Realising it might be his only chance, Mannu called his friend Sushil Kumar in Munger. “Save me. I can’t stay here any longer,” he pleaded. The call lasted only a few seconds before the line dropped, but it was enough.Alarmed by the call, Sushil informed Mannu’s family, who immediately contacted the state’s emergency helpline. They told officials that Mannu was alive under the debris and shared his mobile number with rescue teams at the collapse site.The information changed the direction of the search. Until then, Mannu and another worker, 17-year-old Ghee Kumar, also from Munger, had remained untraceable despite intense rescue efforts. Their families had begun fearing the worst when the late-night call offered the first sign of life.Rescuers started calling Mannu’s number repeatedly. At one point, they reportedly heard the faint ring of a cellphone from beneath the collapsed structure, giving them a crucial clue to his location.The Army deployed its advanced rescue radar system to detect movement and locate possible voids inside the wreckage. The National Disaster Response Force also used a life detector to search for signs of human presence.The equipment indicated what appeared to be two human figures inside a cavity below the debris. The life detector confirmed signs of life. Army and NDRF then began vertical drilling through concrete and steel to create a narrow access shaft. After hours of careful work, they reached Mannu.Shortly after 4 am on Thursday, rescuers pulled him out alive and rushed him to SSKM, where he remains in critical condition. Ghee, trapped beside him, was also recovered, but he had died.
