New Delhi, 11 Nov

Body parts lay scattered, with some fragments even reaching the nearby Jain Mandir, leaving locals terrified and sleepless through the night. The powerful explosion near Delhi's Red Fort on Monday killed 12 people and left several injured, rattling one of the city's most crowded and historic neighbourhoods.

Karamjot, who sells bags in Chandni Chowk, recalled the chaos that unfolded moments after the blast. "I saw a large number of people running towards me from the Red Fort side. Everyone was screaming. I ran towards the gurdwara and took shelter there until things calmed down," she said.

JP Mishra, an employee at the Jain Mandir sports club, said locals rushed to help the injured before emergency teams arrived. "When I reached the spot, I saw dismembered bodies everywhere. Some of the body parts even came under my feet," he said, his voice trembling.

Another eyewitness, 45-year-old Karmayta Devi, who livesnear the Jain Mandir, said her family could not sleep the entire night. "It felt like an earthquake. The ground was shaking. My 15-year-old son, who saw the bodies lying around, was terrified. Some parts of the bodies even flew into the Jain Mandir compound," she recounted.

Priya, 10, who lives close to the Red Fort, said the blast was so strong that the cement from the ceiling of her house fell off. "Our school is closed today. We couldn't sleep the whole night. I have never heard such a loud sound before," she said softly.

Meanwhile, shopkeepers fear they might incur losses for the next few months.

Chandan, who has a shop in a lane close to the blast site, recalled the horror and said, "We were at the shop when we heard a loud noise. It was all white, and the ground felt like it was shaking. We waited for five minutes, but as soon as we heard that it was a bomb blast, we closed our shop and went to our homes."

Another shopkeeper, Lakshay, said that despite the fear,they returned to their shops today only to have them closed by the authorities.

"This will result in huge losses to us in the next few months. Even if the authorities permit us to open our shops, fear will still linger in the minds of customers who come here, especially during the winter season. We will have to pay our bills and staff members," he told PTI.

The explosion has left the neighbourhood scarred, with fear and disbelief still hanging heavy in the air as investigators try to piece together the sequence of events behind the deadly blast.