‘Seemed like an earthquake’: Batala cracker factory blast survivors recount horrific explosion
Someof the injured who are being treated at the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar have no idea about the whereabouts of their families and fellow workers who were with them at the time of the blast.
Hours after a massive explosion in a firecracker factory in Batala in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district killed at least 23 people on Wednesday, many of the injured have no information about their families and fellow workers who were with them at the time of the blast.
Seven of the injured were referred to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital (GNDH) in Amritsar by Batala civil hospital and one of them — Amrit Singh (32) — was declared brought dead. He was one of the owners of the factory.
The other six injured have been identified as Joginderpal Singh (40), Sukhdev Singh (32), Vicky (38), Simran Kaur (20), Chandan (35) and Davinder Singh (30), all residents of Batala and its adjoining villages. The blast completely demolished the two storey building and damaged nearby houses as well.
Medical superintendent (MS) of GNDH, Dr Jagdev Singh Kullar, said, “Chandan and Surinderpal have 70% and 80% burn injuries respectively, and their condition is critical. However, other four injured are stable.”
Many of the injured have no clue what happened to their family members or others who were with them at the time of the explosion.
“We live at the rear of the cracker factory. At around 3 pm, I heard a loud bang and it seemed it was an earthquake. After this I don’t know what happened to me. When I regained my consciousness, I was in the hospital. I don’t know where my other family members are and what happened to them?”
Sukhdev Singh is also clueless about what happened to the others who were with him. “I work as a mason. I was working near the factory along with some labourers when something hit my head suddenly. After this I heard a noise and then I was blacked out. I don’t know what happened to others who were working with me.”
“I was drinking tea near the factory when it exploded. When I reached the spot I found several people trapped under the debris. My friend Amrit Singh who was running the factory, was injured, and was rushed to the hospital,” said Amrit’s close friend Dawinder Singh who works in another cracker factory.
Dr Rakesh Sharma, who is leading the team of doctors, said, “GNDH is well equipped with medicines and equipments and sufficient units of blood, of each blood group, are available with us. A team of 50 doctors, including senior doctors and medical students, are treating the injured patients at the hospital. The doctors are trained to handle the burn patients. The other staff and helpers of the hospital will also work during night.”
The hospital has cancelled leaves of all doctors.
“Soon after the incident, I got a call from the officials of the district administration. I immediately cancelled the leaves of the doctors. The staff has been directed to remain present in the hospital in the night because we expect more injured would be referred here,” Dr Kullar said.
