New Delhi agony for families
2005-11-01 15:11
New Delhi - Three days after the New Delhi bomb blasts killed 62 people and wounded more than 200, Sarina Das, like many anxious relatives, has no idea whether her son is dead or alive.
Already reeling from news that her nephew died and that her daughter-in-law lost her legs in the powerful blast that rocked a busy market in the capital, she hangs between hope and despair for her missing son Michael.
"We have been watching all the television news channels continuously these past days," Das told AFP at Safdarjung Hospital, where most of the dead and injured were brought after the explosions.
"We have put his poster in all the hospitals. But there is no news," she said. "Can there be greater agony for a mother?"
Her son Michael, aged around 30, had gone with her nephew and daughter-in-law to the Sarojini Nagar market on Saturday to do shopping for Diwali, the Hindu festival of light.
It was then that a bomb exploded at a popular juice bar in Sarojini Nagar.
Minutes earlier a blast had caused mayhem at the Paharganj market near Delhi's main railway station, and a third device was found later on a bus in Okhla industrial area and exploded as the driver hurled it out the vehicle.
"Somebody please help me to find my son," wailed Das, holding up a large picture of Michael for a television news channel's camera.
Her sister Georgina said that an agonising search of the leading Delhi hospitals where victims were admitted had so far proved futile.
An unidentified caller has further confounded the family by saying that Michael had travelled to the central Indian city of Bhopal. "Either somebody has played a really bad joke on us or we don't know," said Das.
Her agony is shared by other families whose loved ones are still missing.
A woman identified only as Babli, who is being treated at Safdarjung Hospital for injuries from the blast, is beside herself with anxiety awaiting news of her missing husband.
"My sister has 40% burn injuries and has lost part of a foot, but what is killing her is that there is no news of her husband John," her brother, identified only as Alwin, told the Asian Age newspaper.
Police say that eight of the 41 corpses brought to the hospital were still unclaimed. Photographs have proved to be of little help in identifying the badly-charred corpses, and DNA testing was the only hope of identification.
In some cases, a ring, pendant or a unique physical characteristic has helped families identify the badly disfigured remains of their relatives, medical staff said.
"A father was devastated to see the body of his daughter," said a senior forensic surgeon, who did not want to be identified. "It was only after he saw the decayed tooth that he finally realised his daughter was no more.
"Unfortunately, some of the bodies have nothing on them for identification."