City counts its dead

Victims' attendants queue up at hospitals

The day after the five-storey building collapsed in Laxmi Nagar saw a sea of bodies being carried to varied hospitals in the city. Lok Nayak Hospital (LNJP) had 41 bodies brought dead till 2pm. Out of the 26 brought alive and seriously injured, two succumbed to injuries in the day.


Picture of grief: People look at photographs of Monday's house-collapse
victims at Lok Nayak Hospital in New Delhi. PIC/Subhash Borolia

Out of the two, one was a 5-year-old boy and the other was a 30-year-old woman. Neither had been identified till 4pm. The wall just beside the entry gate to the hospital wore black and white printouts of the dead to help their kins identify their faces along with two sheets that bore the names of all those dead. Out of the long list, 39 fell under the 'unknown' category.

In every couple of minutes, a crowd could be seen gathering and dispersing in great confusion and a glimmer of hope.

"We have had a tough time managing the rush of bodies and their relatives swarming in the premises from everywhere. While most bodies have been sent to the mortuary, a few are still with us waiting to be claimed," said Dr. Lokesh, Casualty Medical Officer (CMO), LNJP hospital.

Toll
The number of deaths after Monday's building collapse in Laxmi Nagar has reached 66. The highest number of deaths (42) has been reported from the LNJP Hospital.

A doctor said most of the victims are labourers, vegetable sellers, tailors, and tea vendors. They belong to Bihar, Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.