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India bombs leave 21 dead, 62 wounded
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-03-08 08:59
Three separate bomb blasts ripped through the holy Hindu
city of Varanasi in India, killing at least 21 people and wounding 62 at a
crowded temple and a railway station.
Indian men carry
the body of a victim of a bomb blast outside the Hanuman Temple after two
separate bomb blasts hit a crowded temple and a rail station in the holy
Hindu city of Varanasi in northern India. At least 21 people died and 62
were injured in three separate bomb attacks in the holy Hindu city of
Varanasi in northern India, an official said.
[AFP] |
Police also found two other bombs near the city's main cremation site on the
banks of the Ganges River, officials said. There was no immediate claim of
responsibility for the attacks.
The authorities put states across India on high alert, fearing the attacks in
Hinduism's holiest city could spark communal violence.
The first blast tore into the Hanuman Temple temple -- one of the oldest as
well as one of the most beloved shrines in the ancient city -- when it was
packed with faithful carrying out their weekly Tuesday night worship.
Witnesses said the powerful explosion set off a panicked crush as people
scrambled for safety.
"The blast was so powerful that it could be heard across the town, and we
have moved five or six badly-burned dead," an eyewitness said.
"Everyone was running. There were corpses lying around," another witness told
Aaj Tak news channel. "There was almost a stampede."
Witnesses said a marriage ceremony was taking place at the temple when the
blast occurred. They said several students due to appear for exams were also at
the temple to offer prayers.
Rescue workers struggled in Varanasi's narrow lanes to cart out the victims,
most of whom had injuries on their legs and on the lower parts of their bodies,
people on the scene said.
Within 10 minutes, two more bombs went off in the city's main railway
station, said Kamlesh Pathak, the city's deputy administrator.
One went off outside the station master's office while the other exploded
inside a train carriage jammed with travellers preparing to go on holiday ahead
of the annual Hindu festival of color, Holi, next week.
"The third blast occurred inside a crowded coach of the Shiv Ganga Express
minutes before it was to set off for New Delhi," Pathak said.
"Ten people have died at the (Hanuman) temple and 11 more at the railway
station. Eight of them are women," he said.
"We are counting the bodies as they are coming in... There is confusion
everywhere and all I can say of now is that three of the eight (females) are
young girls," the official told AFP by telephone.
Around 62 people were injured, some in critical condition, officials said.
So far none of the various Maoist, Islamic separatist or tribal guerrilla
groups operating in India have claimed responsibility for the blasts.
Internal Minister Shivraj Patil said the federal government had put all
states across the vast country on alert and sealed off Varanasi.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged the nation to remain calm.
"The prime minister has appealed for maintaining peace and calm. He is
constantly monitoring the situation. He condemned the blasts," a spokesman from
his office told AFP.
Home Secretary V.K. Duggal told reporters in New Delhi the modus operandi of
the Varanasi blasts was similar to serial explosions that shook New Delhi just
ahead of the Hindu holy festival of Diwali last October, killing 66 people.
The blasts in Varanasi took place within 10 minutes of each other, which was
also the pattern when two crowded markets and a bus were targeted by bombers in
New Delhi.
The Indian government was ready to send National Security Guard commandos to
the city, if necessary, Duggal said.
Uttar Pradesh state, in which Varanasi is situated, was put on extra high
alert and security was beefed up in the holy towns of Ayodhya, Faizabad and
Mathura, officials said.
Attacks on religious sites in India are not unknown.
In 1992, more than 2,000 people were killed in religious riots after Hindu
mobs razed a 16th-century mosque in the holy city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.
The mosque was built on a disputed site, which Hindus claim as the site of an
ancient temple to the god Ram.
In 2002, around 30 people were killed when militants attacked Akshardham
Hindu temple in western Gujarat state.
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