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Amid chaos, families await release of bodies from JJ Hospital
Utter confusion and disorder was witnessed at the state-run JJ Hospital in Mumbai as tensed relatives scrambled to complete formalities ahead of taking custody of the bodies of 18 people killed in the serial blasts that ripped through the city on Wednesday evening.
At the hospital, 17 bodies have been identified of which nine have been handed over to relatives after post mortem for the last rites, while one body is yet to be identified, hospital officials said.
A total of 32 injured are being treated at the South Mumbai hospital. While 10 of them are seriously injured, 12 persons have sustained severe burn injuries of which five are in the Critical Care Unit.
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'It's not a case where these people were suicide bombers'
Doctors at the emergency ward said electric wires were found in the bodies of six of the ten seriously wounded.
"It's not a case where these people were suicide bombers. The wires entered their bodies after the high-intensity blasts. The wire pieces and traces have been handed over to the police for forensic investigation," J J Hospital Dean T P Lahane told mediapersons in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani visited the hospital and met the victims and families. He, however, left without speaking to the media.
Majority of injured admitted to JJ, Saifee, Harkisandas hospitals
According to BMC's disaster management cell, 120 injured persons have been admitted to J J, Saifee, Harkisandas, G T, Bhatia, KEM, Bombay, Sushrusha and Nair hospitals.
Majority of the injured are being treated at J J (32), Saifee (26) and Harkisandas (29) hospitals.
Some of the dead persons have been identified as -- Himmatbhai Kalubhai Gadiya, 49, Guman Singh Mohar Singh Rathod, 35, Lalchand Ahuja, 45, Mohan Nair, 46, Tushar Kolambe, 30, Sunil Kumar Jain, Tushar Rameshchandra Shah ,48, Sandip Champaklal Shah, 38, Ajgar Darodia, Rajesh Khamji Khedekar, 28, Pankaj Soni, 22, Premraj Motilal Soni, 45, and Kisan Shivsadan Mandal, 35.
22 persons have been discharged after medical aid from KEM and Saifee hospitals.
The impossible ordeal for victims' families
Ruta Joshi, wife of one of the victims Prashant Joshi, 35, told PTI at J J hospital that her husband's right eye was severely damaged and metal parts were found in his brain when he was operated upon last night.
Joshi, who has a seven-year-old son, was going back to his work place at Abdul Rahman Street through Zaveri Bazaar, a short cut route which he seldom takes, she said.
After hearing about the bomb blast, Ruta tried calling her husband but there was no response. After an hour or so when she tried again, a doctor at J J hospital picked up his mobile phone and informed her about his condition.
Vinod More, 24, who works in a jewellery shop at Zaveri Bazaar, was badly injured in the blast there. More, who is to get married in August, has sustained injuries in his chest and shoulders.
His friends said he is the sole bread earner of the family and had gone to buy some snacks for his colleagues when the blast went off.
Another victim, Ashok Bate, 35, a peon in a firm in Zaveri Bazaar, has sustained severe burn injuries on his face. His family was not allowed to see him due to his condition.
Ajay Verma, 30, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, runs an eatery near the blast site and has been injured in his legs and hands and is in the CCU while another victim Anand Gandhi, 65, a retired businessman, has suffered head injuries and lost his ability to hear.