Bus conductor, UP trader, friends… The victims of car explosion near Delhi’s Red Fort

Panic and grief have gripped Delhi and its neighbouring National Capital Region (NCR) after a major blast in a moving car outside the Red Fort Metro Station on Monday (November 10) evening killed at least nine people and injured several others. Heartbreaking scenes emerged from Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital, where victims of the blast are being treated, throughout the night.

Anxious families and friends of the victims gathered outside the hospital for information about their loved ones. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a visit to Bhutan , has promised that “conspirators” behind the incident would not be spared.

Let’s take a closer look.

Car blast rocks Delhi

A blast in a Hyundai i20 near Delhi’s Red Fort last evening shook the nation. At least nine people died and 20 others were injured as the explosion occurred in the slow-moving car when it stopped at the traffic signal near Gate No.1 of Red Fort Metro Station at 6.52 pm on Monday.

Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha told reporters at the blast site that two to three people were inside the vehicle.

Six cars, four motorcycles and three e-rickshaws nearby were caught in the fire, sources told Indian Express. Mangled vehicles were seen around the blast site.

The police said one mutilated body was also recovered.

Home Minister Amit Shah said overnight that investigators are “exploring all possibilities” behind the explosion. The cause of the blast is not yet confirmed.

The explosion came just hours after 2900 kg of explosives were found in the rented accommodation of a Kashmiri doctor named Muzammil Shakeel, in Haryana’s Faridabad, just 50 km from the national capital.

High alert has been declared in Delhi, Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh and some other states following the blast.

The iconic Red Fort is closed to visitors for three days, from November 11–13. The Lal Qila Metro Station has been shut due to security reasons, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said on Tuesday. “All other stations are functional as normal,” it added.

The Delhi Police have registered a case under the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the Explosives Act in the case.

Victims of Red Fort car blast

A bus conductor and a trader are among the casualties of the blast near the Red Fort.

Ashok Kumar, a bus conductor, lost his life in the tragic incident in Delhi on Monday. As per an NDTV report, Ashok, a native of Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha, worked as a conductor with the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC). He used to moonlight as a security guard at night.

His cousin Pappu told the news channel that Ashok was the sole breadwinner in his family of eight. “I read his name in the list,” he said adding, “I called around to confirm. He also had a bike, which is missing right now.”

Pappu said his cousin used to take the Old Delhi route and may have been “either returning from work or going somewhere”.

Ashok lived with his wife and four children, three girls and a boy, in Delhi’s Jagatpur, almost 15 km from the accident site. He is also survived by his mother and elder brother.

Ashok’s friend, who is also from Uttar Pradesh, died in the Delhi blast. Lokesh Agarwal, a fertiliser trader from the Hasanpur area of Amroha, had travelled to the national capital to visit a relative at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. On his way back, Lokesh stopped near the Red Fort Metro Station to meet his friend Ashok, his family members told ANI.

The explosion was so powerful that both men died on the spot.

Lokesh’s relatives remembered him as a “kind-hearted” and “helpful” person who was involved in community work. “We still cannot believe he is gone. He had just gone to see a friend,” a grieving family member said to the news agency.

Amar Kataria, a 34-year-old businessman, was headed home after work when the blast near Red Fort claimed his life. A resident of Sriniwaspuri in Delhi, Kataria’s shop is located at Bhagirath Palace, nearly six km from the Red Fort, reported NDTV.

Speaking to Hindustan Times on Monday night, Kataria’s nephew, waiting for information about his uncle, had said: “I last spoke to him when he was on his way back home from work. He runs a garment store in Chandni Chowk. Since then, there has been silence. We got a call from an unknown number saying he had been taken to Lok Nayak Hospital, but no one here is telling us anything. How can they do this? We just want to know if our family member is alive or dead.”

A 22-year-old trader, identified as Nauman, was another casualty of the blast. He was a resident of Jhinjhana in Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli district who had come to Delhi to purchase cosmetics for his business, as per the NDTV report.

Nauman’s 21-year-old relative Aman, who was with him at the time of the incident, was also injured in the explosion.

A relative of another deceased told ANI, “Dinesh Kumar Mishra was my nephew and he used to work here…His body has been sent for post-mortem…”

Mohsin, a resident of Meerut who was living in Delhi with his wife and two children, also lost his life.

His visibly broken mother told IANS, “He had come from Meerut to Delhi in search of employment. Here, he used to drive an e-rickshaw. Our daughter-in-law called and informed us about the incident.”

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Survivors who live to tell the horror

The injured in Delhi’s blast were admitted to the emergency ward of Lok Nayak Hospital, but the families were not allowed to go inside to meet their loved ones.

Joginder Singh, a 34-year-old cab driver, sustained burn injuries in the blast. He was waiting to pick up a passenger when the incident happened. “My cab is gone… completely burned. I bought it with all my savings two months ago to make a living, and now nothing is left,” he told Indian Express.

The injured also include 28-year-old Ankush Sharma and 20-year-old Rahul Kaushik, who were returning from the Gauri Shankar Temple in Shahdara on a bike. As they stopped at the traffic light near the Red Fort Metro station, the powerful explosion in the Hyundai i20 vehicle threw Ankush onto a car. He suffered 80 per cent burns on his face and body, reported NDTV.

Rahul, who fell on the road, suffered injuries to his legs and body. His family told the news channel that his hair was scorched. He still somehow managed to take his friend to the hospital before his own condition deteriorated and he was admitted to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital.

Rahul’s mother told NDTV, “He was very scared when he came. He sustained injuries on his feet, hands, head and ears. His hearing is affected,” she said. The family also pleaded for government protection.

Suman (39) and her neighbour Sarita Saxena, who live in Chawri Bazaar, were going to the Gauri Shankar temple when the blast ripped through the area, overturning their e-rickshaw, as per Indian Express. Both suffered injuries to their hands.

Kishori Lal, a 42-year-old resident of Yamuna Bazaar who hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich, was on his way to Matia Mahal market at the time of the blast. He recalled, “I was hungry, I was just heading to eat… when, suddenly, there was a loud blast… something hit me in the leg.”

Lal, who sustained a cut on his right thigh, said, “My right hand is also hurting a lot near the elbow.”

Safwaan, a 25-year-old from Chennai, has an auto spare parts business in Chandni Chowk. “It’s been two hours since I came here [LNJP], but nothing has happened,” the victim, who suffered injuries to the underside of his knee, told the newspaper.

Shaina Parveen, 23, who works in accounts, was at Chandni Chowk to buy a kneecap for her father at the time of the incident. She said she felt a constant ringing in her ears, adding, “My brain feels heavy.”

Shiva Jaiswal (32), Sameer, a 26-year-old autorickshaw driver, were also among those injured in the blast.

With inputs from agencies