"A ward boy came and told me, 'hurry up, there's been an explosion.' I thought a gas cylinder must have exploded and at the most there would be 10 or 15 cases," says Dr Gajani.

On seeing the number of patients, with varying degrees of injury, he says he was nervous for the first 10 minutes, "but I saw my seniors and got all charged up. After that I just got into it."

The interns were told to administer intravenous drips, arrest blood loss, dress and stitch wounds and attend to the paperwork.

"Our first concern was to save the life of the patient," says Junior Resident Dr Wasim Mustafa Ansari [standing].

For the interns, their day of emergency drill turned out to be their first real mass casualty. They only left the hospital at 1 pm the following day.

Working on a monthly stipend of Rs 1,700, these interns will become residents next year. As residents they will get between Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 a month.

Looking back on that black Monday, Dr Naval Daver says he was amazed at how all the departments came together to work as a family. And although it was a learning experience for the interns, "a tragedy like this should not happen again."

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Also see: After The Holy Dip

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