22 Patna blast victims still in hospital; to miss Diwali

As many as 22 of the nearly 100 people injured in a string of explosions here last month are still undergoing treatment in hospital and will miss Diwali, officials said Sunday.

"More than seventy people injured in serial blasts were discharged till Saturday and only 22 injured are undergoing treatment at the Patna Medical College and Hospital here," said Bimal Karak, an official of Patna's premier hospital where the injured were admitted.

According to hospital officials, some of the injured would be discharged after Diwali and most of them would be discharged in the next four to five days.

The hospital has decided to discharge some of the injured after Tuesday or Wednesday, a hospital official said.

The state government had provided a compensation of Rs.20,000 to all injured in the blasts.

Besides the injured, six people were killed when six bombs exploded in Patna Oct 27, most of them in and around the sprawling Gandhi Maidan where Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi later addressed a rally.

Most of those killed and injured were activists or supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Ainul alias Tarique, a suspect in the seventh bomb explosion at the Patna railway station died Friday at a hospital here due to injuries.

The Bihar government has already provided a compensation of Rs.5 lakh to the next of kin of those killed in the serial blasts.

Narendra Modi Saturday met the families of those killed in the bomb blasts.