Blast victims' families protest healthcare

MALEGAON, India, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Families of the victims of Friday's bombings in a largely Muslim city in the western Indian state of Maharashtra demanded improvements in healthcare Saturday.

Government-run hospitals in the city, Malegaon, have struggled to treat the rush of patients because of inadequate facilities and the lack of specialists, the Press Trust of India reported.

Many families took wounded relatives to a small private hospital, where a lone doctor treated more than 100 victims, the report said. Victims in critical condition from the blast were sent to Bombay, now officially known as Mumbai.

At least 38 people were killed and nearly 200 wounded in the blasts, which occurred as throngs of Muslims left Friday prayers at a mosque.

The families say the hospitals' inability to treat the victims points up failures in local healthcare -- an issue they say they have long complained about, most recently after a disease outbreak in which 3,000 people had to be hospitalized.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said he would look into their grievances.