Stuck Under Killer Mumbai Billboard, People Honked To Signal They're Alive

The Mumbai billboard tragedy that claimed 16 lives has sparked massive outrage over civic negligence

In the moments after Mumbai's killer billboard crashed on a fuel pump, people trapped under the 250-tonne structure kept honking their car horns, hoping that whoever comes to rescue them will know that they are alive. Some survived with injuries, others with trauma, 16 people didn't make it.

Poorbaji Myule, a cab driver, was at the Ghatkopar fuel pump Monday afternoon for gas. That's when the storm struck. "Many people had come to the fuel pump to take shelter from the rain. Moments later, the huge billboard came crashing down. I cannot describe how scary that sound was. It was so scary that my limbs are trembling as I recount it," Mr Myule told NDTV.

The cab driver, who suffered a shoulder injury in the incident, was trapped in the debris for over an hour. "I kept shouting for help for an hour. Nothing happened. Then two people removed the debris on my car, broke the window glass and rescued me. I suffered the injury when they were pulling me out," he said.