At Bhandup, heavy rains sliced off a portion of Marod Hill, killing seven hutment dwellers living in tin sheds at Milind Nagar on the hill. The victims were sleeping when the landslide occured a little before 8 am. Four of the victims were sisters - Swapna Telang (10), Kalpana (8), Ashwini (4) and Pooja (2). Their mother, Shobha Eknath Telang (35), died as well. The father, Eknath Telang, escaped a certain death as he had just left his shanty on an errand.

The Telangs' immediate neighbours, Vinod Wakode (30) and his wife Gokula Wakode (25), also perished in the mishap. ``Vinod had married Gokula barely two months ago. Everything was going fine for the newly-weds as Vinod had secured a job in the Ceat company. But fate had something else written for them... They had recently moved to that shanty on the foothill,'' said Vinod'sgriefstricken aunt, Sakun Sanjay Tayyade, who was waiting at the Mulund General Hospital along with other relatives to collect the bodies.

Ganesh (25) and Shyamala Thokal (20) were a bit more fortunate: they escaped in the nick of time and sustained minor injuries. ``The Wakode couple were living right in front of our house. I still don't know how I and my wife escaped,'' Ganesh Thokal told Express Newsline

from his bed at Mulund General Hospital. An autorickshaw driver, he received minor abrasions on his leg, while his wife has a blood clot in her shins.

``We were sleeping when I suddenly heard rumbling sounds outside. Even before I could peep out, we were buried under the landslide. I was screaming loudly because of searing pain in my legs, and I thought I would never see daylight again,'' recalled Ganesh Thokal. Alert residents, however, pulled out the Thokals within 20 minutes.

The gloom caused by the deaths spread to those living under the shadow of Marod Hill. ``For years, we have beensystematically slicing the hill to make huts. It is now our turn to suffer,'' declared Santosh Ahire, a resident of Milind Nagar.

In the other landslide at Vikhroli Parksite, a house collapsed this afternoon, burying an eight-year-old child. Four others were trapped in the debris, and they have been admitted to a local hospital.