Hotel owner loses son

[1]

Hyderabad: Syed Mustafa, eldest son of Syed Hassan Boluki, owner of City Light Hotel, was among the 13 who were crushed to death, when the old structure came crashing down on Monday. 
 
Mustafa, 35, had gone to the hotel at 6 am on Monday to relieve his father, and was sitting at the main counter when the building crashed. On hearing of his son’s death, Boluki fell unconscious and was admitted to Gandhi Hospital with a minor heart stroke. 
 
The inconsolable father said, “I sit at the hotel at 4 am every day. My son Mustafa relieves me around 6 am. I had just reached home when the neighbours called and informed me. It took five hours to trace him.” 
 
“He was supposed to run the business and now he is no more. The picture is still running in my mind. His mother and wife are in shock and so is the entire family,” he added. Syed Mustafa was cremated on the same day in the old city. He is survived by his parents, wife and three children. 
 
There is no trace of another family member, Ali T, 55, the owner’s cousin who works for him. The Boluki family had bought the building 50 years ago and employed 40 people. 
In view of the approaching Ramzan season, another 10 employees had been hired and lived on the second floor. 
 
Owner ignored Sunday warning 
 

There was some indication of the poor structural quality of the City Light Hotel on Sunday evening when some bricks fell from a cracked wall and broke a huge glass piece near the hotel’s main counter. The owner, who was present, dismissed it as a normal structural fracture and continued to run the food joint, which collapsed the next morning killing 13 people. 
 
L. Sudhakar, who had a narrow escape, said, “Around 7.30 pm on Sunday, the ground floor wall behind the counter cracked and bricks fell down. We informed our sahib, but he just asked us to clean up the mess. If he had evacuated the staff that night, no one would have been dead or injured.” Sudhakar was trapped on the first floor of the building for two hours. 
 
“It was my morning duty and I was sweeping the staircase on the first floor. I heard a loud sound and when I looked around I saw a slab falling on me. My right leg was completely trapped. I screamed for help, but could not open my eyes and mouth as mud kept falling on my face. It was pitch dark. I had to fight for breath. There were bricks on my chest, and I couldn't move.”
 
Sudhakar kept shouting for as long as he could. “I was so worn out that I didn’t have the strength to shout. Finally, I noticed a narrow opening and lifted my hand to indicate that I was alive. After a long time they pulled me out.” Sudhakar has been working as a waiter in the hotel for a month now.