Israeli embassy blast victim likely to be left partially paralysed, say doctors

New Delhi, Feb 14 (ANI): Doctors treating the wife of an Israeli diplomat injured in the car explosion on Tuesday said that the injury was serious and she was likely to be left partially paralysed.

Tal Yehoshua, the wife of an Israeli defence attache working at the embassy, was among the four people injured in the car blast that took place near the high-security Aurangzeb Road Crossing here on Monday evening.

Dr Arun Bhanot, one of the doctors attending to Yehoshua, said she had developed partial paralysis because of a serious injury to her spinal cord.

"They are stable as of now at this time when we are talking. The liver and lung injuries are stable. They are being closely monitored and they are not deteriorating," Dr. Bhanot told mediapersons at a private hospital here.

"Spine was significantly injured. The extent can be assessed that she has developed partial paralysis. So, definitely it is a serious injury," he added, when asked to comment on the spine injury.

Dr. Bhanot further said Yehoshua had undergone surgery to remove shrapnel that was adding pressure on her spinal cord.

"The shrapnels which were causing the main pressure on the spinal cord, which were the cause of her paralysis of her left side, they were warranting surgery. That is what we have attempted and that is what we have successfully done," he said.

At 3.16 p.m. on Monday, an Innova car from Israeli embassy burst into flames after a biker planted an explosive on its rear and sped off. Two passengers from a nearby Indica were also affected by the blast.

Police had put up barricades on the road leading to the blast site and vehicles going in and out of the hospital where the injured are being treated were being thoroughly checked.

The perpetrator reportedly used the same method of attack, detonating an explosive device that had been attached magnetically to the vehicle that was used to assassinate an Iranian nuclear scientist in Tehran last month.

Indian investigators said they will probe all potential leads from home grown militant outfits to foreign groups during the course of their investigations. (ANI)