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Red Fort blast death toll rises to 12 as 55-year-old wounded man dies from injuries
The deceased used to sell imitation jewellery outside Akshardham metro station in Delhi before the Covid-induced lockdown, and later moved back to Begusarai.
A 55-year-old man, injured in the deadly Red Fort blast last week, succumbed to his injuries on Monday while undergoing treatment at the Lok Nayak hospital. The death toll has now increased to atleast 12.
According to officials at the hospital, Vinayak Pathak was brought there in a critical condition on November 10. He had suffered around 60 percent burn injuries and an amputated limb.
The body was handed over to the family on Monday afternoon after the postmortem.
Meanwhile, police have been able to identify one of the deceased people from the day of explosion. Mohammad Lukman, 60, was from Bihar’s Begusarai and is among the 11 victims who died on November 10.
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Lukman’s son, Mohammad Sikandar, 35, said he ran a small imitation jewellery shop Begusarai and had come to Delhi on November 8 to buy supplies for his business. “Following the news of the blast, we could not find the whereabouts of our father. The police said his name was neither among the injured nor the deceased. So we kept looking for him. Only days later, we found his body at the mortuary of Lok Nayak Hospital,” Sikandar said.
Lukman is survived by his wife and two sons, one of them intellectually disabled.
Sikandar said that they last spoke to their father on the morning of November 10, when he was near the Sadar Bazar area, close to Jama Masjid. “Because we did not know his exact last location, we thought he might not have been near the blast site. So we continued our search and got an FIR registered,” he said.
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“Two days later, the police again asked us to check with Lok Nayak hospital. But because of the high VIP movement, we were not allowed inside. Only after several hours of requests, police showed us some pictures of the deceased people at the mortuary. Most were almost unrecognisable, but I had slight doubts about one of them and so I asked the police if we could see the body in person.”
They could finally identify Lukman and the body was handed over to the family on November 13. “His body had sustained severe injuries and was almost not recognisable,” Sikandar said, adding that after the postmortem, took the body back to Begusarai.
Lukman used to sell imitation jewellery outside Akshardham metro station in Delhi before the Covid-induced lockdown, and later moved back to Begusarai.
“Our father, who earned around ₹10,000 to ₹15,000 a month. His death has left the entire family shattered, both mentally and financially.”
