The Hindu : Front Page : A weekend turns a nightmare

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Sunday, Sep 14, 2008
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A weekend turns a nightmare

Ashok Kumar

NEW DELHI: As usual scores of families have gathered at Central Park in Connaught Place on Saturday evening in anticipation of a memorable weekend. But alas that was not to be. Little did they realise what destiny had in store for them.

Around 6-40 p.m., a bomb planted inside a dustbin went off leaving behind a bloody trail. A dense cloud of smoke engulfed the park and people ran helter-skelter screaming for help. Even before anyone could realise what had happened, scores of people, mostly women and children, were lying around in pools of blood.

Inderjeet Singh, who owns an electronic goods shop in Palika Bazar, said: “I was busy attending to customers in the evening when I heard a deafening sound near Central Park. I along with fellow shopkeepers immediately rushed towards the park and was stunned to see the scene there. Over 50 people, mostly women and children, were lying around writhing in pain. Without wasting any time, we pulled people out of the park and rushed them to nearby hospitals in cars, autorickshaws and other private vehicles available.”

Deepak Kumar, a garments shop owner, said: “Several Police Control Room vans and ambulances also reached the spot within minutes of the blast and helped us in shifting the injured to hospital. I myself carried over a dozen people from inside the park. Most of the victims were women and children and were badly injured. Their blood-splattered clothes were torn and many were unconscious.”

Such was the impact of the blast that the glass windows of several shops and cars parked around the park were shattered. Shopkeepers in Palika Bazar downed their shutters and carried out checks around their shops. “In view of the seriousness of the situation, we made an announcement asking all shopkeepers to down their shutters. Before that, we carried out a check in and around our shops to ensure that no bombs were planted there,” said Pritpal Singh Kohli, Joint Secretary of the Palika Bazar Shopkeepers’ Welfare Association.

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