Two-year-old's brush with death

The little girl was found crying, after the blast, on the stairs leading to the river and was picked up by a local youth, who brought her to the office of the Ganga Seva Samiti situated near blast site.

“The girl was crying and her clothes were torn... its nothing short of a miracle that she escaped unhurt not only from the blast but also survived the stampede that followed the blast,’’ said Babu Maharaj, the patron of the Samiti.

“Perhaps the goddess Ganga came to her rescue…she (Ganga) must have witnessed the death of Swastika so she ensured safety of this little girl,” he added.

Babu Maharaj also suggested a name for the girl. “She should be named Ganga as it is because of her she is still alive,’’ he said.

“There is no information about her parents. No one has come forward to claim the girl,’’ said Dinesh Chandra Dubey, at whose house the girl spent two days before being sent to the Child Helpline in Varanasi.