Fifty-six-year-old Vele Ramulu’s family of wife, three daughters and a son was inconsolable outside the Osmania General Hospital mortuary on Thursday night where Ramulu’s dead body, along with those of nine others, was lying. A resident of Jamia Osmania, Ramulu was a superintendent in GHMC office. “After the day’s work, he went to meet his brother Bhikshapati at Choutuppal. He would usually park his bike outside the Dilsukhnagar bus station but now he would never return,” cried his wife Andalu, adding that her husband had chosen this fateful day after two months to visit his brother.
Hundreds of people had gathered outside the Osmania General Hospital soon after the news about the twin blasts broke out. Police forced shopkeepers to close down their shops and not to gather outside the hospital. As injured people were being brought in, the air was filled with cries of pain by the survivors.
Some were totally numb and could not express themselves. One of them, Venkat Narayana(40), an accountant and resident of Chaitanyapuri, cried in pain to inform his wife Sandhya, whose number was unreachable. Another, Srinivas Reddy, covered in blood could not recollect anything apart from his name.
Waiting for his turn outside the emergency operation theatre, Palakurla Yadaiah, a real estate collection agent, was seen crying for some drinking water. But it was he himself, who informed his brother, Venkatesh, about the incident as soon as it happened.
”He used to collect instalment payments and was on his way back after collecting the money. He was stuck in the traffic outside Venkatadri theatre when he heard the blast,” said his brother.
Government school teacher G Ramesh was calm and patient even with injuries all over his body.
“I teach at the Sangareddy government high school and was going home at Dilsukhnagar. The blast was very loud and before I could react, I was down near Konark Theatre,” said Ramesh, patiently waiting for his brother-in-law who stays in Chandanagar.
Sai Rohit Goud (20), a third-year BTech student ofn Sri Datta Engineering College, was another one badly injured. Yet, he SMSed his brother Harish Goud asking him to come to the Osmania Hospital. “He was going to his regular Auto-CAD Java coaching classes at Dilsukhnagar. We are extremely happy that he is alive,” said Harish.