As communal violence wracked North East Delhi over the last three days, two hospitals in the city were flooded with injured people, and dead bodies.

At least 23 people have been killed and several hundred injured in the violence so far. The injured include at least half a dozen mediapersons, one of whom was shot.

The Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in Dilshad Garden, East Delhi, has received 21 dead bodies so far, including that of policeman Ratan Sharma, and treated at least 189 of the injured, according to Chief Medical Officer Sharad Verma.

On Wednesday, as doctors conducted autopsies in the GTB Hosiptal’s mortuary, the relatives of the dead waited outside, patiently. Frequently, as journalists would approach them to ask about what they had suffered, one or the other relative would break down.