Working class bears the brunt of blasts

An Indian woman consoles her relative Sunita (L), mother of a girl killed on Saturday when a blast ripped through the Paharganj area of New Delhi. Indian police handed out a sketch of a suspect in blasts that killed at least 61 people in New Delhi as experts said one bomb might have been made by explosives packed in a pressure cooker. PHOTO: AFP

The father of three was one of those hit by Saturday night's explosion at Paharganj market but it was not till he regained regained consciousness Sunday that he was reunited with his family.

Like Rai, several of the victims are blue-collars workers -- such as cleaning ladies or small shopowners -- who are the backbone of the city.

One patient's address at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital was simply "the snack food shop" at Paharganj.

Victims were also mainly young. The oldest patient at Ram Manohar Lohia was 50, the youngest -- who has since died -- was a seven-month-old boy.

At least 61 people were killed and 188 injured in the attacks at Paharganj and Sarojini Nagar markets, and on a bus. An unknown group calling itself Inquilab (revolution) claimed responsibility in calls to reporters in the revolt-hit region of Kashmir.

Weak and barely able to speak, Rai told a nurse on Sunday morning that he could not recall much about the Saturday night blast.

"I don't remember anything, I was trying to flee and I passed out," said Rai, his eyes glazed, before lapsing into sleep.

On Saturday night an AFP correspondent saw Rai, with a gash above his eye and his face swollen, lying alone and unconscious on a stretcher.

It was not till Sunday morning that he was able to identify himself to a man visiting a patient in the next bed, who then called his family.

They immediately rushed to the hospital and have been there since dawn.

Most victims of the Paharganj blast were taken to two hospitals in central Delhi -- Ram Manohar Lohia and Lady Harding -- while victims of the Sarojini Nagar explosion, the deadliest of the night's attacks, were taken to a hospital in south Delhi.

Many of the dead are still unidentified, television reports said.

Rai's stay at the hospital was chaotic. He was moved from the burns ward to the neurosurgery ward after being diagnosed with a head injury that caused heavy bleeding from his ear.

"His ear is bleeding a lot and he's been retching," said his worried mother, Jaya Devi, as she adjusted a piece of cotton wadding stemming the flow.

Hospital workers poured soapy water on the ward floor, scrubbing it down after dealing with the deluge of patients.

Jaya Devi said she had had no idea last night that her eldest son had been injured in the bomb blasts. She thought he was out late driving his motorised rickshaw.