By IANS,
Mumbai : For the first time, private hospitals played a major role in providing relief and treatment to the victims of Wednesday’s triple blasts which claimed 21 lives and injured another 130.
Of the total casualties, as many as 37 were handled by the private Saifee Hospital, outside Charni Road station in the east, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2005.
Close behind was another prestigious and private Harkishandas Hospital at Girgaum which handled 36 victims.
Besides the injured, both hospitals reported casualty figures of five each.
Both hospitals are barely a kilometer away from the two worst hit sites – Zaveri Bazar and Opera House.
Similarly, other private hospitals like Bombay Hospital at New Marine Lines handled six victims, while Bhatia Hospital nearby is treating two victims and two were handled by Sushrusha Citizens Co-Operative Hospital Ltd. Dadar, which was inaugurated by then prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1969.
The remaining injured were rushed to civic or government run hospitals like St. George Hospital (15, including one dead), Sir J. J. Hospital (14, including one dead), G.T. Hospital (14, including four dead), KEM Hospital (9) and Nair Hospital (two, including one dead).
Incidentally, during the Nov 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, a few private hospitals had opened their doors to the victims and provided them with the best of emergency treatment and subsequent treatment.