The brothers, along with a few other volunteers from the local area, waited for the heat to subside before attempting to physically enter the building. They worked together with the police to move some of the debris from the entrance.
When they finally reached the canteen, they couldn’t see anyone.
Dark, dense clouds of smoke had engulfed the room. The air smelled of burned metal. The brothers, who just minutes before had been heading to play cricket, began removing cooking gas cylinders to avoid any further explosions, Krish, 20, explained.
The brothers and other volunteers then spotted a pile of suitcases and went to move them. What unfolded next, they said, was gut wrenching.
Behind them, they began to make out the shapes of people.
Most were alive. Some had spoons full of food in their hand, some had plates of food in front of them, and some had glasses in their hand.
They were all badly injured.
They were also silent, in shock. Just minutes before they were having their usual afternoon. Now, they were surrounded by charred metal pieces of aircraft.
“They didn’t even get a chance to react,” another doctor, who was in a nearby building, said.
