Red Fort blast: DNA tests to identify victims at Lok Nayak hospital

A 70-bed disaster ward was activated with over 50 doctors treating blast victims for burns, fractures, and head injuries.

A day after the blast, officials from Lok Nayak hospital confirmed that at least 10 people had died – and that the number is likely to go up, as “multiple human remains have been brought to the hospital that may belong to different people.”

Delhi CM Rekha Gupta and Delhi minister Ashish Sood meet the injured victims at Lok Nayak Hospital on Tuesday. (PTI)

Hospital officials told HT that DNA testing will have to be carried out to ascertain the identity of the body parts. Of the 10 dead, identities of eight had been established by Tuesday – Amar Kataria (35), Ashok Kumar (34), Mohsin Malik (35), Dinesh Kumar Mishra (35), Lokesh Aggarwal (52), Pankaj Sahni (23), Mohammad Nauman (19) and Mohammad Jumman (35).

Lok Nayak officials said that police have brought to them amputated body parts such as limbs, tongue and teeth. A senior doctor at the hospital, aware of the matter, told HT, “When the Air India plane had crashed, it took time to gather human remains of those who had died. This is a similar situation. We have recovered some human remains but the identification process of victim identification is encountering hurdles… Remains have been preserved. We are waiting for the kin of those missing or dead to approach us so we can begin the process of DNA testing.” The official said that so far at least two families have approached the hospital looking for their missing kin.

Hospital officials told HT that as of now 25 people are undergoing treatment. “People mostly have burn injuries caused by flames, not chemicals. Some have amputated limbs; while others are being treated for shrapnels wounds caused by flying pieces of glass or metal, broken bones, and head injuries,” said the official.

Dr Ritu Saxena, Deputy Medical Superintendent and Head of the Emergency Department at Lok Nayak Hospital, told HT that the hospital has a dedicated 70 bed disaster ward for situations like these. “As soon as blast victims started to come, we opened the disaster ward. All departments were immediately alerted and a team of more than 50 doctors from various departments including Orthopaedic, Burns and Plastic, Neurosurgery, General surgery and those from causality and ICU started the treatment for the patients.”