Dasora, who was staying in room number 202 of Shakunt Hotel on the fateful morning, tried to flee when the building started shaking. “I immediately opened the door and started running with my luggage. But it was too late and the entire structure came down on the staircase. For nearly an hour all I could see was darkness. I still do not believe that I am alive and talking,” he said while sitting on a wheel chair on a busy corridor outside Shardaben Hospital in the Shaherkotda area.

Four other victims, who were brought to the same hospital with Dasora, —Ramesh Meena (Rajasthan), Sanjiv Shrivastav (Gandhidham), Gulab Chaudhary (Rajasthan) and Pradeep Modi (Vadodara), however, were not so fortunate, as doctors declared them dead on arrival.

Forty-seven-year-old Ranjit Singh from Hoshiyarpur in Punjab, who was at the Trauma ward in the Civil Hospital, said, “I felt some vibrations and came out of my room. But I lost balance when the building started shaking. I fell down and was entrapped in the lobby for hours. I could feel entire structure tumble down.” Singh works in Sonalika Tractors in Hoshiyarpur, and had come to Ahmedabad on Saturday evening.

Ahmed Zamil (52), another occupant of the hotel who escaped unhurt, said that his faith in an old Dargah in Amdupura in the walled city saved his life.