'There was a stampede and chaos'

I was treating my patients after the Friday prayers when I saw people running in panic near my dispensary.

I asked them what happened and they told me there was a blast at the Bada Kabristan in the Nayapura area in Malegaon. They told me there were three blasts in that area. The first occurred at 1.50 pm in Bada Kabristan, the second occurred a few moments later and the third one happened at Mushawarat Chowk.

Soon after the blasts there was a stampede and complete chaos. The death toll is likely to go up since thousands of people had assembled at the Bada Kabristan since it was Shabe Barat (Muslims visit the graveyard every year on this day in an annual ritual).

I saw seven bodies in the hospital. I treated some of the injured at my clinic. The dead and injured were rushed to two hospitals -- the Saran hospital and Wadia Hospital -- immediately after the blasts.

Many people have lined up to donate blood and there is no shortage of blood at this moment.

We have no idea who is behind this. Malegaon was peaceful and there has been no communal tension for the last five years. The last time there were riots was in October 2001.

The Central Reserve Police Force has already arrived and the situation is tense but under control.

The night of every Shabe Barat we go and pray in the Kabristan but I think this year we will have to pray in our homes.

As told to Syed Firdaus Ashraf