20 killed, 113 injured as blasts rock the city
Terror struck India’s financial hub Mumbai last night leaving at least 20 people dead and 113 injured in 3 separate blasts in quick succession, confirmed the Indian home ministry.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said, “These are terror attacks. It is an attempt to disrupt peace.”
Mumbai Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik said the blasts at Opera House and Zaveri Bazar, the silver hub of the city, were of higher intensity than the one at a bus stop at Dadar, a suburb of Mumbai city.
All the blast sites, which were crammed with people of evening rush hour, are close to each other in south Mumbai.
“The three blasts occurred between 6:50pm and 7:00pm,” Chavan said.
The explosion at Opera House was the most powerful while the other two were of lesser scale, Chavan said.
Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said considering the manner in which the blasts were timed, they infer it was a terrorist attack.
“It is a terror act. Quite obvious that some terror element is involved in the attack. The blast at Zaveri Bazar was triggered by improvised explosive device kept in an abandoned umbrella,” Chavan said.
Maharashtra PWD Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said, “It is clear that the attackers wanted to hurt as many people as possible. Many people are injured.”
Following the blasts in Mumbai, a high security alert was issued across India, including Delhi and Kolkata, and security enhanced at all sensitive installations.
Splattered blood, glass shrapnels, damaged vehicles, dazed and bleeding people were seen at the blast sites.
Policemen swamped the areas with their bomb and vapour detection gadgets, and armoured vehicles within minutes of the explosions.
A car with shattered windscreen and damaged boot, which reportedly had three people in it, was parked close to the bus stop.
The blast site, a stone’s throw from the Plaza, a big shopping area of central Mumbai, saw a big commotion as the explosion was followed by sparks in an electric meter box at the bus stand.
A shopowner, Sadashiv Kamble, said he saw three people sitting in the car. “Everything came upon me. I immediately ran for my life,” he said.
“I heard a loud explosion. I saw people having serious injuries lying in a pool of blood,” another eyewitness said.
In November 2008, 10 Islamist militants attacked multiple targets in Mumbai, including five-star hotels, in a deadly assault that killed 166 people.
In 2006, a series of seven high-powered blasts on suburban trains in Mumbai killed 187 commuters and left 800 injured.
AFP reported that Islamabad swiftly condemned yesterday’s attacks in a statement issued by the Pakistani foreign ministry.
-With The Daily Star input
