Coimbatore blasts: 20 years later, their scars remain

Every time, 40-year-old R Rangaraj goes through a metal detector at a railway station, the machine starts beeping. "I have had a hard time explaining to security personnel that metal pieces are inside my body," Rangaraj says. The metal pieces he refers to are shrapnel from one of the bombs that went off in Coimbatore city on February 14, 1998. Rangaraj, the sole breadwinner of his family, was severely wounded, and has been since living with these metal pieces. Two months ago, he underwent a surgery to remove a piece of nail that was stuck to his ankle.

Rangaraj, who was working as a tailor at Town Hall in 1998, says the bomb went off around 4pm at Mohammed Khani Ravuthar Street near Kempatti Colony, while he was returning to work after lunch, on a bicycle. "I was thrown off the bicycle. When I opened my eyes after the blast, I saw bodies scattered around me. I tried to get on my feet. But a part of flesh from my left ankle was torn and a nerve in my right leg was damaged. Also my body had been pierced at many places by shrapnel from the blast," says Rangaraj.

He was admitted to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital for treatment. "I was laid on the floor along with hundreds of other injured people when another bomb went off right inside the hospital," he reminisces.

Rangaraj was admitted to various hospitals for two months. "I was 20 when the blasts happened and I lost normalcy in my life. I cannot walk fast and fold my legs for a long time," he says.

Rangaraj lost his job at the tailoring unit after the blast as he could not use his legs to operate the tailoring machine. "Metal pieces and glass pieces got stuck to my body and some of them were not removed by the doctors who operated upon me," he says.

A father of two, Rangaraj today works as a goldsmith and waits to overcome the shock of the incident.

Rangaraj’s family was lucky to have him alive, but many lost their breadwinners and heirs in the incident. One such parent is S Vijayalakhsmi, whose 15-year-son, S Ramakrishnan, died in the blasts in Kempatti Colony. Ramakrishnan, a Class IX student, was playing in front of his house when he heard the first explosion at around 4pm. Thinking it to be the sound of a cracker, he rushed to the spot when another bomb went off.

"I was in the house when the blast happened. I ran to the spot and found my son soaked in blood and asking for water. Police personnel tried to give him soda, but I didn’t allow them to. I laid him on my lap where he breathed his last," says Vijayalakhsmi.

Ramakrishnan’s body was sent to Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital. "I ran behind the ambulance to the hospital where I noticed hundreds of injured people. We had only one son and lost him in the blast. I have not celebrated Pongal or Diwali festivals for the past

20 years

," said Vijayalakshmi.


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