Chaos, grief engulfs Malegaon hospital

The Wadia hospital in the centre of Malegaon town in Maharashtra, where most of the injured in the blasts were brought was a scene of grief and chaos with relatives and patients as well as media personnel thronging the place.

"I had just gone to read namaz (prayers) in the afternoon when I heard three blasts. There was a huge commotion, people were screaming. After that I do not remember anything except that I was injured and I was brought to the hospital," said seven-year-old Shahjad as he lay in his bed in Wadia hospital.

Although Malegaon has had a history of communal violence in the past, residents still seemed shell shocked at Friday's incidents that had till now claimed 37 lives and injured more than 100.

Frantic relatives, security personnel and media were seen at the Wadia hospital as hospital staff struggled to cope with the crowds on the premises.

Another added pressure on the hospital staff was to finish the post mortems being conducted on the dead as many of the victims kin want to bury the dead on one of the holiest days in Islam.

However, the outrage at the incident was evident in reactions from people across this small town.

"This is a inhuman act. Shab-e-Baraat is a sacred ceremony. How can anyone do this? An inquiry should be done and the culprits should be booked," said M M Sheikh, head of the district minority cell of MPCC.

Citizens were on the streets discussing the blasts in areas where curfew was not imposed while security personnel prowled around sensitive areas where curfew was imposed.