Mumbai hospitals struggle to cope with blast victims

Most of those wounded were taken to JJ, St George, GT, KEM and Harkishandas hospitals as the medical staff scrambled to tackle the sudden medical emergency. Several of them were referred from one hospital to another after they failed to secure a place due to large number of victims pouring in from the blast sites at Dadar, Zaveri Bazaar and Opera House.

People queued up at hospitals to verify whether their friends or relatives were among the injured, while some were seen donating blood and helping hospital authorities. At state-run J J Hospital, 17 injured were admitted of which one died during treatment. At Harkishandas Hospital, 29 persons, injured at the blast at Opera House, were brought, sources said.

"Two bodies were also brought to Harkishandas. Of the 29 injured, six have suffered serious wounds. Some of the victims were moved to Nair and Saifee hospitals for further treatment," Jayant Patil, Mumbai City's Guardian Minister, told reporters.

At St Georges Hospital, nine persons were admitted of which one is said to be in a serious condition. One of the injured, identified as Lalchand Ahuja (45), later died. Some of the injured were identified as Pradeep Jano, Ashok Patil, Nikhil Tanka and Sundar Singh, hospital officials said. "All the injured have suffered severe burns and their body parts have been crushed," Pravin Shingare, Co-Director of St George Hospital, said.

As many as 19 persons were brought to G T Hospital, the sources said, adding that one of them is said to be in a serious condition.

Seven persons from Dadar blast site were being treated at KEM Hospital. Six of them were identified as Shirish Kandalgaonkar, Loria D'Souza, Varsha Thokarsi, Manekshah Vishwakarma, Dhananjay Govindhadhikari and Ganpat Bhovad.

"There are five dead in Saifee Hospital and four in Harkishandas Hospital," Leader of Opposition in State Assembly, Eknath Khadse told reporters outside JJ Hospital.