Distraught relatives search for dear ones

City hospitals respond to provide emergency medical aid to victims

“He left home at 3.30 pm to buy some plywood at Dadar since he is a furniture contractor. The doctors are not letting me meet him,” she cried.

Her neighbour Ashwini Sawant said they were trying to call Mankeshwar moment they heard news of the bomb blast but it was only at 8.30 pm that the police called the family based on the mobile phone they found.

“They told us to come to the hospital and gave us his mobile phone,” she said. Jigna Karia said her sister Varsha (25) suffered minor injuries on her left hand and legs. Varsha works as an accountant at Marine Lines and was returning home to Dadar when the blast hit her. “She is fine for now and is talking,” added Jigna with relief.

Pallavi Gaokar's husband Shirish suffered chest injuries and was left with hearing impairment. Shirish was hit on the body and legs by the flying shrapnel as he went to buy things from Dadar.

Sanjay Oak, Dean of KEM Hospital, said nine people were admitted and two more were brought in later. Distraught family members waited for news of those who are in a serious condition such as Mankeshwar.

With most patients arriving with multiple shrapnel injuries, the hospital rose to the occasion. Dr Oak said even off-duty staff pitched in with assistance. Apart from surgeries, the hospital is also conducting hearing tests.

At the Harkisondas Hospital, a little over a km away from the Opera House, where one of the three bombs exploded, doctors felt the building shake. Five persons died in the blast and many more are in a critical condition, according to hospital sources. The injured were being brought in a critical condition with shrapnel wounds. Three underwent surgeries, while there were also some amputations.

Sudhir Jain, 36, was injured in the chest and legs. His wife rushed in from Borivali, a distant suburb, on hearing the news. Jain, a diamond trader, briefly spoke to his wife and told her not to worry.

A pall of gloom fell over the hospitals as relatives of the dead and the injured gathered; their faces showing grief or anxiety. Given many here have suffered grievous injuries, the death toll by Thursday could raise further. 

For the hospitals here, handling the sudden rush of patients from blast sites was not all that unfamiliar. It was not therefore surprising to see doctors and paramedics coping with the emergency as they went about handling each critical case as it arrived in their wards. Situation in hospitals of South and Central Mumbai were chaotic on Wednesday evening as patients had been brought in just hours after the blasts shook the city.

Those were the agonising hours for the families of the victims who had to frantically search the hospital wards for their dear ones. “I had to wait for half an hour as the doctors were not letting me enter the hospital. My son has been admitted to the Harkishandas hospital,” said the mother of Snehal Shah, who was injured at Opera House. “All the injured have suffered severe burns and their body parts have been crushed,” said Pravin Shingare, Co-Director of St George Hospital.

At the same time, some injured were referred from one hospital to another as a large number of victims from the three blast sites were being brought in as the doctors struggled to attend to those already admitted. “My friend Prasanna who works in Zaveri Bazaar suffered severe shoulder injuries and burns,” said Kamal Doloyee, 28.
Prasanna was first taken to GT Hospital and then to JJ Hospital.