'Mumbai has come together'

Ankit Goel was on the streets of Mumbai in the immediate aftermath of the train blasts that killed scores of people.

He describes how the people of the Indian city helped each other as the city got to grips with the enormity of the situation.

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Sranded commuters were given food and water by residents (Copyright: Urdu Times)

I was on the streets at the time the blasts occurred, but I was some distance away and in no danger.

But I witnessed their effect on the city of Mumbai.

People poured out onto the streets. Everywhere there was panic. Everyone from the offices had already left and was in a hurry to catch a bus or taxi home. People didn't know if more bombs were going to go off.

People were handing mineral water bottles to people on the buses. They were bringing out boxes of water bottles and food to give the many people who had to journey for hours to get home.

My friend was near the tracks when the bomb went off. He told me how people were bringing bed sheets out to help clear the debris and carry bodies away.

People were putting the injured into rickshaws and taxis just to get to the nearest hospital.

Providing support

Many people were trying to get to hospitals themselves to give blood. I am going to give blood as well.

Mumbai has come together. The people haven't panicked. Even though the government took some time to respond to this crisis, the people could provide support to one another.

Total strangers were helping each other and telling each other to call their friends and give news of their safety. Even now I am trying to get in touch with the friend of a man I met, to tell him not to worry.

People were talking too. Many seem to have had near misses. Another friend came home to find that the train he missed was the bombed train.

Mumbai may have many cultural and religious divisions. But citizens have turned out in huge numbers to support each other.