Kabul martyrs arrive home, President Patil pays tribute

NEW DELHI: Those injured in Friday's Kabul blast and the bodies of those killed were flown down to Delhi on Saturday evening. The Air Force aircraft carried the eight injured and six deceased back to Delhi where they were paid a floral tribute by President Pratibha Patil, along with other senior officials from the foreign ministry, and defence officials.
The bodies flown back included those of an engineer Bhola Ram, Roshan Lal, who was working with ITBP, Nitesh Chibber, working with the Indian mission at Kabul, tabla player Nawab Khan, Major Dr Jyoti Singh and Deepak Yadav from the Army Medical Corps.
Meanwhile, the eight injured flown back were immediately taken to the Army Research and Referral hospital. The flight from Kabul landed at 5.55 pm and the first coffin was brought out by 6.40 pm. President Patil, who had just landed from Pune, also decided to pay her tributes to the deceased.
Alauddin Khan, who had accompanied his brother, deceased tabla player Nawab Khan, managed to return safe and was present at the technical area. "Both of us were there together but bhaisaheb perished in the blast. I managed to get out safely thanks to God Almighty," he said, before he was whisked away by officials.