Panic and heartbreak engulfed the LNJP Hospital on Tuesday morning as relatives of victims of the Red Fort Metro Station blast crowded outside its gates—some weeping after identifying the bodies of their loved ones, others clinging to hope for any word on the missing.
The hospital’s mortuary area remained under heavy security, with only authorised personnel allowed entry. Emotional scenes unfolded as people pleaded with staff for information, while ambulances carrying bodies arrived one after another.
A hospital mortuary worker, who had completed his overnight shift, described the scene as “gruesome beyond words.”
“The bodies that came in were beyond recognition. Some were just lumps of flesh. Many had their internal organs torn apart or missing. It was hard to tell one from another. That’s how devastating it was,” he said.
Among the dead was Noman, who perished in the powerful explosion near Red Fort Metro Station on Monday evening. His distraught family identified his remains on Tuesday morning. As authorities took his body, wrapped in a white cloth, the grieving family followed the ambulance in silence. Noman’s friend Sonu, unable to bear the sight, stood outside, saying he “was not ready to see his friend in such a state.”
By morning, most bodies had been handed over to relatives who managed to identify them. One family was seen in an e-rickshaw, following an ambulance while crying and consoling each other.
The death toll from the high-intensity blast, which ripped through a slow-moving car at a traffic signal near the Red Fort metro station on Monday evening, has risen to 12.
The LNJP Hospital, where the bodies were brought, was placed under strict security. The emergency and casualty wards were sealed off, and entry was barred for the general public.
Patients arriving at the hospital on Tuesday morning were redirected to other blocks, while security personnel stationed at various gates turned away those attempting to enter restricted areas. Several gates of the hospital were closed, forcing patients and attendants to take long detours for access.
“The gates are closed, and they told us to go from the other side,” said a patient waiting near Gate No. 4.
Anita Gupta, whose mother is undergoing treatment at the hospital, expressed frustration over the restrictions.
“We reached here and found the gates locked. Now we have to take a long U-turn to enter from another gate. Outside the wards, guards are asking everyone to leave and not allowing even attendants inside,” she said.
Later in the morning, Delhi Lieutenant Governor V. K. Saxena visited the hospital to take stock of the situation and meet officials overseeing relief and medical arrangements.
