Blast Rocks Delhi, Leaves Victims Scrambling for Help

The blast that rocked Delhi's Red Fort area on the evening of November 11, 2025, has left the city in a state of shock and disarray. The explosion tore through the calm, leaving behind not just smoke and sirens, but also lives upended in an instant.

In the aftermath, victims were forced to fend for themselves. Autorickshaw driver Avdhesh Mandal, with a shard of metal lodged in his abdomen and his shirt soaked in blood, did not wait for help. Instead, he climbed into his own vehicle and drove himself more than four kilometres to the nearest hospital. E-rickshaw driver Azad Alam, with injuries to his thigh, face, and abdomen, managed to call his brother for help before collapsing beside his mangled vehicle.

The chaos also claimed the life of a factory worker, Mohammad Daud, who was on his way to Jama Masjid when the blast struck. His sister, Musarrat Ansari, received his final call, in which he gasped, "Accident ho gaya, cylinder fat gaya hai, Lal Quila aa jao" (There has been an accident. A cylinder has exploded, please come to Red Fort).

Outside the hospitals, families pressed against barricades and glass doors, waiting anxiously for news of their loved ones. The city, once again, found itself caught between disbelief and endurance, as the victims and their loved ones grappled with the aftermath of the devastating blast.