‘People were screaming for help’: Delhi car blast witnesses describe scenes of horror | Delhi

Few monuments symbolise Delhi’s past splendour than its grand, 17th-century Red Fort, once the imperial domain of Mughal emperors. The fortress now stands as a museum frozen in time but the surrounding area remains the thriving heart of the Indian capital, where dried fruit and vegetable vendors jostle for space alongside stalls selling clothes, suitcases and shoes.

Across the street are the narrow lanes of the famed Chandi Chowk bazaar. By nightfall, the roads are chock-full of rickshaws and loudly honking cars.

Just before 7pm on Monday, these familiar scenes were ripped apart when a white Hyundai car came to a stop at a red light exploded with a boom so loud and intense it was felt several kilometres away. The car became an inferno, erupting into flames that went high into the air.

The force of the explosion turned the sky momentarily red and set alight nearby cars and rickshaws, many with drivers still inside. The aftermath was described by those present in tones of abject horror.

“Rickshaws blew up, body parts of people scattered during the explosion and hardly anyone near the vehicle could be rescued,” Mohsin Ali, a worker in the neighbourhood, told the Hindu newspaper.

Ali said he had pulled out at least three charred bodies from vehicles and put them on a rickshaw to be quickly taken for medical care. “I saw people on the road with their legs split open and injuries to their hands and other body parts,” he added.

The streets around the Red Fort were even more crowded than usual due to the festival season, which brings people to the area for wedding shopping and to enjoy rides at a fairground. As the blast struck, the crowds ran screaming in all directions. Witnesses described seeing people “blown to pieces” as dismembered body parts flew through the air and landed in the road.

“We were so scared, there was a huge fireball up in the air,” said Shamim, who has a clothing stall in the nearby market. “The entire place was lit up because of the flames.”

Shamim said the ferris wheel at the fairground outside the Red Fort also caught fire. “People on the ride were screaming for help,” he said.

Speaking to Indian media, a witness Irfan described similarly harrowing scenes. “We saw severed hands, fingers, and even the steering wheel of a car blown off,” he said. “Handcart pullers and taxi drivers were among those hit by the blast. Some of them didn’t survive.”

Others nearby described how the car had detonated with such force, it had shaken all the nearby buildings, shattering windows. Giriraj Singh was in a nearby temple when he heard the blast. “A few other employees and us ran out. We saw pieces of flesh, car parts and broken glass everywhere. There was smoke and flames all around,” he said.

Prem Sharma, who runs food and juice stalls set up close to the Red Fort metro station, said one of his workers was burned in the explosion. “Both my stalls were overturned by the impact. I saw a couple of body parts fly out from the car and then I ran from there,” he said.

In the nearby Lok Nayak hospital, many of the injured fought for their lives from heavy burns. Family members tried to locate relatives they feared might have been caught up in the blast but were unable to track them down. “We just want to know if our family members are alive,” said one woman desperately.

The severe impact of the blast meant that many bodies were charred beyond recognition and the authorities worked through the night to identify them. Among the eight confirmed dead were a taxi driver and an 18-year-old who worked in a cosmetics shop in old Delhi.

One worker at the hospital mortuary told the Press Trust of India that the scenes overnight had been “gruesome”.

“The bodies that came in were beyond recognition,” he said. “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.”