Mumbai, July 19 (IANS) The death toll in the triple blasts has risen to 20 with a critically injured victim succumbing to his injuries at the Sir J.J. Hospital here Tuesday, an official said.


The victim has been identified as Ashok Bate, 35, who had been rushed to the hospital late Wednesday in a serious condition, the official from the municipal corporation's Disaster Control Centre told IANS.

Working as a temporary office-helper in a private company in Zaveri Bazar, Bate was grievously injured when he stepped out on an errand July 13, his grieving uncle Mahadev R. Gaikar said.

"Apparently, he must have been quite close to the blast since his legs were ripped apart. He had sustained many shrapnel injuries on his body and had a large hole in the abdomen where he was hit by a stone thrown up by the explosion," Gaikar told IANS.

Bate, a lower middle class chawl resident of Aarey Colony in the northwestern suburb of Goregaon, had taken up his new job only three months ago.

He is survived by his wife Ashwini and three children - a six-year old son, a three-year-old daughter a six-week-old baby girl - besides his parents, two younger brothers and a sister.

"Ashok was the sole breadwinner for his family. Now, we are all worried how the family will survive and cope without him," Gaikar said.

Ashwini, who is a housewife and looks after the three children, has been in a state of shock for the past six days since the blast and remained by her husband most of the time, he said.

So far, the family has received Rs.50,000 sanctioned by the state government as compensation for the injured victims.

"The other money sanctioned by the state and central governments shall be given to Ashok's widow only after she opens her bank account," the official said.

This is the third post-blasts casualty in the past four days.

Last Saturday, another victim, Avinash Tanka (24), had breathed his last at Bombay Hospital, followed by Babulal Das (45), who passed away in Saifee Hospital, Sunday.

With Bate's death, the toll has gone up to 20, while 128 were injured in the blasts at Zaveri Bazar, Opera House and Dadar Kabutarkhana. Some of the injured have been discharged from different hospitals.