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Chaos, anger at Rajawadi hospital

By Syed Firdaus Ashraf in Mumbai
Last updated on: July 29, 2003 02:37 IST
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It was complete chaos at the government-run Rajawadi hospital in Mumbai, where a majority of those injured in Monday night's blast in a BEST bus in Ghatkopar, were rushed to. Scene at Rajawadi Hospital. Pic: Deepak Salvi

 

When this correspondent reached the hospital, 29 injured had already been brought in and there were more coming in. A doctor told him four persons, who had serious injuries, had been shifted to Sion hospital.

 

Deputy Chief Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who was accompanied by Mumbai Police Commissioner R S Sharma, was greeted by angry, slogan shouting relatives of the injured at the hospital.

 

People had a good reason to be angry. Just seven months back an almost identical blast in a BEST bus in Ghatkopar had left two dead and several injured.

 

The government at a high-profile press conference recently had claimed that the people behind the Ghatkopar blast and those behind the blasts in Vile Parle and Mulund had been arrested. So, what happened?

 

Bhujbal and Sharma only added to the confusion when they said that they had no information of any deaths in Monday's blast. Sharma said 29 people were injured in the blast.

 

This was in variance with what the hospital officials and eye-witnesses were saying. Some said the toll could be as high as five or six. Others said they had seen at least two bodies on the spot.

 

The residents of Ghatkopar were managing the traffic outside the hospital and helping injured with whatever assistance they could summon.

 

However, after a point of time the help became a hindrance as people crowded the hospital and journalists entered out-patient wards to talk to the injured.

 

Soon the hospital staff and the police decided enough was enough and drove everyone out.

 

Chronology of bomb blasts in Mumbai since Dec 2002

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Syed Firdaus Ashraf in Mumbai