Unsung heroes of 26/11 attack recount 59 hours of horror

Mumbai, Nov. 24 (ANI): With the first anniversary of the Mumbai massacre approaching, some of the unsung heroes of the 26/11 attacks recalled their experiences.

On the night of November 26, 2008, when reaching home safely was everyone's top priority, Susheela Pyarelal Sharma, 55, worked overtime to scrub Chatrapati Shivaji Terminal clean.

Susheela, a sweeper in the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminal, accompanied by a few more women, cleaned and scrubbed the platforms on the night of the serial bomb blasts so that early morning travellers would not have to walk on dried blood.

"That night, around 9 pm we went to eat food and around 9:30 pm people started coming from the main line. All of a sudden, we heard the sound of the bomb blasts that made the public go berserk with fear and all of them started running. We also got scared and ran away," Susheela recounts.

"We later returned to the station around 1:30 am and were asked by the officials to clean up bloodstains from the station. It took us four hours to clean the stains from the station. There were blood all over the place," she adds.

Another unsung hero who risked his own life during the Mumbai terror attacks to save the lives of others is, Mohammad Toufik Shaikh, a tea stall owner near the Chatrapati Shivali Terminal.

Shaikh, who was present at the railway station on that fateful day, warned the passengers about the attacks and also took the injured people to the nearby hospital.

"It was a horrible night and no country should ever witness such a night. Tragedies like these only cause deaths and such incidents must be stopped before they can take place. It is the duty of every individual to come forward and help others," Shaikh said.

"One must not just think about saving his own life but must also think about saving the lives of others," Shaikh added.

Although Shaikh has received awards from a few private organizations, he has yet to get any recognition from the government. (ANI)