Explosion aftermath: Out of 54 survivors, 19 are still in the hospital

Blast survivors praised rescue services, hospital staff for prompt treatment.

KARACHI: Out of the 54 injured men and women who were brought into Jinnah hospital following the explosion outside Cantt railway station, 19 are still under treatment and the rest have been discharged.

The survivors were satisfied with the rescue efforts and the treatment they have received at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, which was closest to the blast site and where the bodies and wounded people were taken.

A total of 54 injured people were brought into the hospital along with five bodies. An injured man died during treatment, while pieces of a sixth body were also reportedly brought in. Around 19 people are still hospitalised and some of them need surgeries.

Muhammad Rafiq, 50, drives a taxi that was closest to the bus when it exploded. “You can see it in the pictures printed in newspapers today [Sunday],” claimed the bearded man. After the explosion, Rafiq had burns on the right side of his upper body and some shrapnel in his right hand.

He raised his hands in prayer as he praised, what he called, “the yellow ambulance service” for reaching the site promptly. “There was smoke everywhere when someone pulled me into an ambulance and started washing my eyes and wounds,” he recalled. “He [paramedic] also gave me an injection on the way to the hospital.” The doctors at the hospital will operate on Rafiq’s right hand today to get the shrapnel out.

Sajdah Perveen, 40, mother of seven, had just come out of the bus stop when the explosion took place and a sharp object hit her. She lost her right leg as a result. “So far doctors were very helpful in supplying medicines and arranging blood for surgery,” said her husband, Muhammad Sharif, who works in the cantonment board. “We are worried that recovering will be a long process.”

Jinnah hospital’s casualty department in-charge Dr Seemin Jamali explained that, “The hospital had enough blood in the reserves and fortunately the injured were rushed to the hospital on time, which helped us give prompt treatment,” she said. “The government directed us to provide the best possible treatment to the patients, despite the lack of facilities.”

Meanwhile, 35-year-old Azhar Iqbal, with burns on both his legs, wondered why the government has not announced compensation for the victims when they usually do so after acts of terror.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2012.