Delhi Red Fort blast: Victims leave behind shattered families, broken dreams

A quiet evening at Delhi's Red Fort area turned into chaos within seconds after a slow-moving car exploded near the metro station on Monday.

 

The blast tore through the air, shattering glass windows, shaking nearby homes, and leaving behind a trail of screams, smoke, and silence.

 

Among the dead were people whose only fault was being at the wrong place at the wrong time—a father, a son, a breadwinner, and a friend. Each carried dreams that ended on a street they took every day.

 

One of them was Ashok Kumar Singh, 34, a DTC bus conductor from Mangrola village in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh.

 

Another life lost was Lokesh Agarwal, also from Amroha. A small trader, Lokesh had come to Delhi for work and was preparing to return home when the tragedy struck. His body now lies at the Maulana Azad Medical College mortuary, along with other victims, while his family awaits post-mortem clearance.

 

Nouman Ansari, a 23-year-old cosmetics trader from Jhijnhana in Shamli district, had come to Delhi to collect supplies for his shop, but the quick business trip turned fatal.

 

“He called in the morning, and said he would be back by night,” recalled his friend Sonu outside the hospital. “By the evening, we were told to come and identify his body.”

 

Nouman Ansari's father was inconsolable and couldn't even stand properly. He was helped by other family members who had come from Shamli to claim the body.

 

"Nouman's elder brother has also been at LNLP hospital fighting for his life for the past six months because of a kidney ailment, and now this death happened in the family,” Sonu told THE WEEK.

 

Three others from Uttar Pradesh have been admitted to LNJP Hospital with serious injuries.

 

At LNJP Hospital and Maulana Azad Medical College, families huddle in grief, clutching identity cards and death certificates. The corridors echo with sobs, frustration, and disbelief. Many are still struggling to get the bodies of their loved ones back home, while some others, like the family of Pankaj Sahni, 22, are stranded without help.

 

Pankaj, a resident of Bihar's Samastipur, worked for the cab aggregators, Uber and Ola, and had come near the Red Fort to drop a relative at the railway station.

 

Pankaj’s father, Balak Ram, stood outside the hospital, with tears and exhaustion written across his face. “My son’s body is inside. Our family is shattered,” he said, his voice cracking.

 

“We came to know about Pankaj only after a photograph of a damaged vehicle was circulated in the media. From the photo, we could make out that he was among the victims. We had briefly talked to him two hours before the blast took place,” Nikesh, a family member, told THE WEEK.

 

Several families complained that the hospital authorities were not providing ambulances to transport the bodies to their hometowns.

 

Preliminary investigations suggest the explosion originated from within the car, but the exact cause is still being probed by forensic teams. The area has been cordoned off, and CCTV footage is being analysed.

 

Among those unaccounted for was Juma's brother, a rickshaw puller, who was last seen waiting for a passenger near the Metro entrance. His phone’s last location was traced to the same stretch where the explosion took place. His family in Seelampur has been desperately calling his number, which now remains switched off.

 

“I have been searching for my brother since last night, and his last mobile location was near the blast site. His body is not there in the mortuary, and now we are going to look for him in the hospital where the injured people are admitted,” Salma says.

 

The area around the Red Fort wore a deserted look. Police and forensic experts combed the debris, marking potential pieces of evidence with white chalk, while fire department personnel stood watch beside the charred remains of the car.

 

For the families waiting outside hospitals and mortuaries, grief has turned into a long, uncertain vigil. Many had come to Delhi with hopes of earning a better life. Now, they leave carrying only memories and ashes.

 

India