Two survivors recover under tight surveillance at hospital

Two Red Fort blast survivors - an auto-rickshaw driver Avdhesh Mandal and Mohd Farukh - are recovering slowly at Lok Nayak Hospital, both under tight surveillance but in sharply different circumstances.

For Mandal, it is largely a lonely battle for life, while Farukh’s family takes turns to see him through restricted entry at the hospital. Until Thursday evening, the area outside the emergency ward of the hospital remained heavily guarded, with security guards diligently inspecting and often blocking in and outward movement.

Mandal (40) remains in the ICU of Sushruta Trauma Centre, a part of Lok Nayak Hospital. According to hospital officials, he arrived with a metal fragment lodged in his abdomen and severe bleeding, yet chose not to wait for help. He drove himself more than four kms to the hospital immediately after the blast.

Staff members at the trauma centre said Mandal underwent emergency surgery and is being monitored round the clock. Originally from Bihar, he lives in a rented flat in south Delhi’s Nehru Nagar with friends. With no immediate family in the city, his flatmates have been visiting the hospital regularly. “Nobody from his family has come to us yet,” the hospital authorities said.

The blast, which killed eight and injured over 20, took place when a slow-moving white Hyundai i20 parked near the Red Fort exploded.

Farukh, who suffered a leg injury, is being treated in the emergency ward. At their Daryaganj home, his daughter Ayesha waits for updates on his condition and hopes he will return soon. “I don’t know how much more time he will take,” she said. Ayesha is handling the home as her mother and husband stay out to get updates about Farukh.

Entry restrictions mean only one family member can meet him at a time. “My mother and my husband go in turns,” said Ayesha, who lives with her in-laws in Laxmi Nagar.

“I have not been able to meet my father after the incident since he was taken to the hospital before I could arrive,” she said.