PUNJIRIMATTOM : A mischievous act by his nieces proved to be lifesaver for Abdurahman, 67, and wife Nabeesa, 60, who had a narrow escape from the massive landslide that ravaged three villages in Meppadi. The couple resided at a single-storey house at Punjirimattom, the high-altitude area close to the epicentre of the devastating landslide.
Abdurahman returned home two years ago after working in the Middle East for 38 years. Thereafter the couple lived with the income from an autorickshaw he drove.
Incessant rains had triggered panic among the local residents from the morning, Abdurahman recollected the events on that fateful day.
“My mother-in-law lived in another house, a little far up from our house. We decided to shift her to a relative’s house at Pozhuthana since the rain didn’t subside by evening,” he said. “We returned from there about 8 pm and on the way visited my sister’s house at Meppadi. Sister and her children requested us to stay there citing the heavy rains,” he said.
As Abdurahman and wife were adamant to return, his nieces played a prank. They took the key from the autorickshaw and hid somewhere in the house. “We kept asking for the key but they did not oblige. By around 11 pm we too felt that the idea to return was risky. I rang up my brother near my house and asked him to move to a safer location,” he said.
The brother who lived with his wife and three children said they kept their jeep ready for an emergency evacuation. But the sudden landslide didn’t give them time to move out.
“The bodies of my brother, wife and two sons were recovered the second day. Search is on for the elder girl who was a Plus II student,” he said.
On Saturday, Abdurahman visited his house with his grandchildren. A heap of concrete waste remained where their house stood once. His only request to the fire brigade was to help him recover a suitcase containing the school and college certificates of the grandchildren Mohammad Nasil and Mohammad Nasif.
Luckily the suitcase was spotted beneath a concrete slab. The firemen promised to recover it after removing the debris with the help of a larger earthmover on Sunday. “There are some ornaments and cash at the house. But what matters to me most is their certificates,” he said, pointing to his grandchildren. The children had been with the couple until they shifted to a new house a few months ago.