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Many victims lay writhing in pain

Devesh K. Pandey

"Body parts were scattered all over''

NEW DELHI: "Body parts were scattered all over. Two minors were lying in a pool of blood with their faces completely disfigured while several others lay writhing in pain screaming for help," said an eyewitness, indicating the magnitude of the human tragedy caused by the powerful explosion at Chheh Tuti Chowk in the Paharganj area of Central Delhi on Black Saturday.

It all happened around 5-30 p.m. when the area was packed with Diwali shoppers. Like many other local residents, Ajit Singh was sitting in his house when he heard the blast. His three-storey building shook under the impact of the explosion. "I rushed out and saw people running towards the fruit market. I followed suit," said Singh, shocked by what he had seen. "Two small children were lying unconscious. A portion of the head of one of them lay ripped apart. A woman, probably their mother, also lay nearby. I along with local shopkeepers and three policemen lifted the injured and packed them off in private vehicles to nearby hospitals," he said, adding that six people were killed on the spot, one of whom was a "golgappa-wala".

The intensity of the blast could be gauged from the fact that M.L. Jewellers' shop, in front of which the bomb exploded, was completely destroyed and those sitting inside, including the shopowner, sustained serious injuries.

Adjacent to the shop, a medical store was also badly damaged. Hoardings of many shops in the area were torn apart and windowpanes of shops and residential buildings were shattered within a 50-metre diameter.

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