Memories of the 1993 Bomb Blast

It was a black Friday the 12th of March 1993. Eighteen years later I still have vivid memories of that tragic day. I was a dealer of an HPCL Petrol Station called " LUCKY SERVICE STATION" at Shivaji Park, Dadar, Mumbai which I managed along with my Uncle & Aunt. I was all alone in the office at 2.30 pm when I heard a loud abnormal sound BOOM ! & then what I saw was fire rising all around the premises, oil cans & other accessories on the display stand toppled over, the huge glass panes broke to smithereens, the office ceiling came crashing down,the burning body of a Maruti 800 car was flying towards the office & my staff & people were screaming & running around in a state of panic. I was terrified & spontaneously sat on the ground till things settled down & I was able to escape.

Soon the Fire Brigade, Police & Authorities swung into action & brought the situation under control. The entire area was cordoned off. I now became aware that it was a bomb blast & there were 13 blasts that day in different locations in Mumbai. As I stood & watched helplessly I noticed that our customer's cars that were being serviced, parked & fuelling were torched, the petrol pump units were burnt, 3 people had died & were beyond recognition & several people were severely injured. Crowds had gathered onto the streets & were terrified & shocked at what they had just witnessed. The press, police & news channel reporters were taking statements & we learnt that someone had planted a bomb in a Maruti800 car & parked it on our premises.

The hospitals were full of the bomb blast victims & it was a horrifying sight.One of our employees had lost his leg. The situation could have been still worse if our underground petrol tanks which were full had to explode. I thank God for His protection & for saving my life. I was so near to losing my life. There was a filing cabinet near me that took the brunt of all the metal pieces that came flying into the office thus preventing me from getting hurt.

Crowds visited the place & for the next 10 days it was like a tourist site. However the blast did not stop us from doing our business & within 12 days we were able to return to normalcy.What we had witnessed was a nightmare. I began to fear even the sound of crackers & it took me a long time to recover. I always remember the innocent people who lost their lives that day. May their souls rest in peace. People in Mumbai are very brave & bounce back quickly from any tragedy. Earlier I had only seen bomb blasts in movies but here I had faced it personally.