HUBBALLI: Forty-five year-old Honnamma who managed to stay alive under the debris of a collapsed commercial complex in Dharwad for over 75 hours has come to terms with God. Lying on a bed at KIMS Hospital in Hubballi with her leg fractured, Honnamma keeps murmuring ‘there is God’ to anyone who greets her. She was the last of the four people rescued on Friday from under the debris of the building that came down crashing at Kumareshwar Nagar in Dharwad on March 19.
Honnamma, who hails from Muddebihal in Vijayapura, had come to Dharwad 20 days ago in search of a job. As her brother lives in her native place, and no one from her family had approached the police or rescue teams asking about her fate. The police were surprised when Honnamma was rescued as her name had not been on the list of people feared trapped.
“I came here in search of a job. Finally I managed to get one in the building as a helper. I started working just 20 days ago and I would stay with fellow labourers. When the incident happened, I was in the third floor. I tried to hold on to something when the building was coming down, but a large pile of cement, stones and pillars fell on me.
I was injured in my right shoulder and there was a large cement block on my leg, giving me no space to move,” Honnamma recalled. She showed her presence of mind. As the incident occurred during daytime, she noticed sun rays coming through a small gap in the rubble under which she was stuck.
She widened the gap a bit with a stone and brought her face towards it so that she got air to breathe, she said. “The air supply was what saved me for three days and nights. There was nothing to eat or drink and I could do nothing about it. I also spent time sleeping so that I would not panic or lose my energy. I am thankful to God that am alive today,” she said.