Hapless relatives run from pillar to post
Hapless relatives run from pillar to post
Blast victimes' relatives broke down, some for seeing the name of their kin and some for not seeing them.

New Delhi: Fragile and white-bearded Mansoor Alam from Agra squinted at the list stuck on a dilapidated wall in a far corner of the specialised burns unit of a hospital and went through the names with a shaky finger.

"His (relative) name does not appear here," he said helplessly.

As scores of people scanned the list of victims of the Samjhauta Express twin blasts on Sunday night with trembling fingers at the Safdarjung Hospital, they broke down and cried. Some for seeing the name of their relatives and some for not seeing them.

The explosions near Haryana's Diwana station, 82 km from Delhi, claimed as many as 67 lives and injured at least 50.

Alam's relative, Hussain Ahmed Salim, had come to India from Karachi in Pakistan and was on his way back home when tragedy struck.

"But I don't know where to look for him. His name doesn't appear on this list so now we will go to Panipat Civil Hospital," he said almost in a whisper. Diwana station is near Panipat town.

The Samjhauta Express runs between Lahore in Pakistan and Attari, 25 km from Amritsar. The Samjhauta Attari special train (no. 4001) was taking passengers to Atari station from where they would have boarded a Pakistani train to Lahore.

The names of 10 Pakistani nationals and two Indians have appeared on the list of injured but there are many who have been unable to trace their relatives both at the Safdarjung Hospital as well as the Panipat Civil Hospital.

"No one is saying anything," cried a burqa clad Kamrunisa whose uncle, Zahur Ahmed's name is also missing from the lists. "My uncle had come to Delhi from Karachi to attend his niece's wedding. He was on his way back," she trailed off.

Regaining her voice, she said, "But we can't find him anywhere. My brothers are in the Panipat Civil Hospital and I am here but we can't find him. Even the authorities are not helping us," she lamented.

A teary eyed youth was making his way inside the specialised burns unit to look for his uncle whose name did not appear on the lists either.

"My uncle Ramesh Kumar was going back to his home in Lahore," he said.

Hashina Begum from Rajasthan whose relative Abdul Qayoom was on his way back to Sialkot after a month-long stay in India with his relatives was equally shocked to find him among the critically injured.

"He was here to see us after such a long time. He stayed here for a month and we had such a good time. How could this happen?" asked Begum.

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