Hours from blessings, they run into blast

The chubby-cheeked teenager is in hospital now, without his right leg that took the brunt of the blast.

‘‘My only regret is I will never be able to climb the hill to seek Mata’s blessings,’’ he said.

Like Bahadur, three other Vaishno Devi devotees too are laid up in bed with badly injured legs. They would likely be amputated. An equal number of pilgrims too lost either their hand or feet.

Gopal Chand’s condition is worse. The Life Insurance Corporation agent from Gonda, UP, has lost both feet. He came to Jammu last week to care for his brother, Phool Chand, who was suffering from typhoid. Last night, Phool Chand had urged his brother to seek Vaishno Devi’s blessings before heading home.

‘‘Mine is a touring job. How will I move now?’’ said Gopal as he writhed in pain. ‘‘My family saw me off when I was on my feet. Now I will return on crutches.’’

All of them recall how they crawled out of the bus after the blast. Most were covered in splinters and found their limbs either mangled or missing. ‘‘Some fainted. Securitymen shifted them to hospital,’’ said Ram Iqbal of Ludhiana, whose brother was injured.

Jugga of Amritsar said: ‘‘I would have preferred to die than be a burden on my family.’’ He was a labourer in Jammu, slogging to feed his mother and sisters. Jugga had left home vowing to get his sisters married after he earned enough money. ‘‘I have failed,’’ he said.

Surinder Paul, his wife Meena, and their daughters Suman and Reetu too were headed for Vaishno Devi’s shrine. Reetu died on the spot; the rest of the family is in hospital. Meena has only one query now: ‘‘How are my husband and daughters?’’ The doctors and nurses said they were ‘‘lying to her’’ to prevent death from shock.

A 70-year-old resident of New Plots, Jammu, too left home, not to go to the shrine but for her daily morning walk. When Shakuntala was more than 15 minutes late, her family never imagined she had gone into a coma after the blast.

‘‘She takes a morning walk in the thickly forested Manda locality. She is home by 6.30 am every day. When she failed to show up by 6.45 am today, and we saw a TV report on the blast, we rushed to GMC Hospital,’’ Pritam, a relative, said. ‘‘We found her lying unconscious on a bed.’’

Some angry New Plots residents blocked the road around 8 am and raised slogans against the police and CM Farooq Abdullah.