Mohammad Latif had gone out to save his car, when he returned, the happy Taj Mahal family was buried under the debris.

A heart-wrenching and shocking incident has come to light from Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, where the havoc of nature destroyed a happy family in a moment in Lower Muran village of Surankote tehsil. After 27 years of hard work and sweat in Saudi Arabia, Mohammad Latif had built a magnificent mansion with great ambitions, which the local people fondly called ‘Taj Mahal’. But one night of torrential rain and cloud burst turned this dream palace into a pile of debris and left Latif with lifelong pain.

That dark night at midnight and a decision of precaution

This horrific accident happened on Sunday when heavy rains started wreaking havoc in the border districts of Poonch and Rajouri of Jammu and Kashmir. It was around 3:30 in the night when suddenly the torrential rain became severe. Taking precaution, elderly Mohammad Latif thought that his SUV car should be taken to a safe place. Just this one decision became the biggest turning point in his life. As soon as he came out of the house to take out the car, within a few minutes the flood caused by the cloudburst, heavy debris and huge stones completely destroyed his three-storey house built on the banks of the drain.

Saudi’s 27 years of earning and destruction of 8 family members

It was just a coincidence that Mohammad Latif was saved from this fatal accident because he took the car out. His elder son was in Jammu at that time for studies, hence his life was also saved safely. But the remaining eight members of the family sleeping inside the house did not even get a chance to escape. In this horrific tragedy, Latif lost his 59-year-old wife Noor Safia, sons Sajjad Ahmed (16), Haqnawaz Ahmed (11), Shahnawaz Ahmed (11), daughter Khaleda Kausar, Yasser Iqbal’s wife and two-year-old innocent grandson Sofiaan forever. Apart from this, his relatives Bano Bi and Mohammad Akram also fell victim to this debris. Latif says that he worked as a laborer in Saudi Arabia for 27 years and saved every penny so that the future of his children could be improved and they could get a good education.

Helpless father pleading for help for dead bodies of his loved ones

At this time Mohammad Latif, who has lost everything, is completely broken. Their pain is not just of the destruction of their house, but of seeing for the last time the bodies of their family members who are still buried under the heavy debris in Murra-Bufliaz village. So far only three bodies have been recovered, while the bodies of five members are still buried under the debris. With tears in his throat, Latif is pleading with the administration and the government to immediately send big JCB machines to the area so that the huge stones can be removed. It is impossible for the villagers alone to remove these rocks. He says that if even one dead body of any of his relatives is found safe, it will be the biggest blessing in the world for him.

Huge obstacles coming in the way of rescue work

The administration and various relief agencies are continuously engaged in rescue operations, but due to the natural disaster the roads have been completely blocked. Due to landslides, the approach roads leading to Murra village are closed at many places, due to which heavy digging machines and JCB excavators are not able to reach the spot on time. Although the administrative officials are continuously making every possible effort to clear the way and find the missing people buried under the debris, but with the passage of time, the hopes of finding their loved ones alive or safe are now fading.