‘Our building shook with the impact’.

Rakesh Bhatt usually spends his evenings taking a nap in his balcony on his third floor apartment. On Wednesday evening, Bhatt, fortunately, decided to sleep indoors or else he would have been injured badly when the glass panes of his balcony shattered after the blast. Kiran Wadhwa speaks to a Mumbaikar.

Rakesh Bhatt usually spends his evenings taking a nap in his balcony on his third floor apartment. On Wednesday evening, Bhatt, fortunately, decided to sleep indoors or else he would have been injured badly when the glass panes of his balcony shattered after the blast.

HT Image

Located diagonally opposite the Hanuman Mandir bus top, where the explosive was placed, Bhatt and his family lives in a residential building called Jayanera.

“I was lying down when I heard the blast. We rushed out to see our glass panes shattered and a lot of smoke,” said Bhatt, who works with a multinational bank. Bhatt was home as he works in the night shift.

“There were six bodies strewn about, including that of a young woman. The impact was huge. Our whole building shook,” said Bhatt. “There was a silver Esteem that was fully broken down but thankfully the driver was okay. The passengers on the two motorcycles seemed most hurt.”

Bhatt’s family is still coping with the trauma. His 13-year-old son and wife are still shaken up. “Thankfully, my daughter was inside her room studying and not on the balcony,” he added.