Pune terror blast toll climbs to 17

PUNE - The toll in the Feb 13 German Bakery blast has risen to 17 with a 23-year-old woman from Ambala succumbing to her injuries, police said. Her body was handed over to her relatives Saturday afternoon.

Aditi Jindal, an interior designer who had sustained 75 percent injuries and battled for life for 14 days, died at Pune’s Budhrani Hospital at 9.45 p.m. Friday night.

Her body was sent to Ambala by a special aircraft.

Pune Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh and District Collector Chanddrakant Davli were present to console the grieving family members.

The blast ripped through the popular German Bakery Feb 13, killing nine people on the spot. Eight more victims have died of their injuries since then.

The dead include five foreign nationals and 12 Indians, most of them students.

Twelve more victims are still battling for their lives in three Pune hospitals - Sassoon Hospital, Jehangir Hospital and Inlaks Budhrani Hospital — police said.