NEWS: Serial Blasts in Mumbai & Srinagar - Page 3

MUMBAI, India - Seven bomb explosions at rail stations and on trains in India's financial hub Tuesday killed 135 people, Mumbai police said.

Police Chief A.N. Roy said 135 people were killed and more than 250 injured, according to Reuters.

"The blasts happened when the trains were most crowded," said D.K Shankaran, chief secretary of the state of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital said.

There was chaos throughout the crowded rail network following the explosions, and authorities struggled to determine how many people had been killed and injured.

Television images showed injured victims sprawled on train tracks, frantically dialing their cell phones. Some of the injured were being carried away from the crash site.

The force of the blasts ripped doors and windows off carriages, and luggage and debris were strewn about.

Pranay Prabhakar, the spokesman for the Western Railway, confirmed that seven blasts had taken place. He said all trains had been suspended, and he appealed to the public to stay away from the city's train stations.

Tactic of Kashmiri militants
The blasts appeared to have come in quick succession — a common tactic employed by Kashmiri militants that have repeatedly targeted India's cities.

The first explosion hit the train at a railway station in the northwestern suburb of Khar, said a police officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

India's CNN-IBN television news, which had a reporter traveling on the train, said the blast took place in a first-class car as the train was moving, ripping through the compartment and killing more than a dozen people.

Another CNN-IBN reporter said he had seen more than 20 bodies at one hospital in Mumbai, which was previously known as Bombay.

The Press Trust of India, citing railway officials, said all the blasts had hit first-class cars.

On hight alert
All of India's major cities were reportedly on high alert following the attacks, which came hours after a series of grenade attacks by Islamic extremists killed eight people in the main city of India's part of Kashmir.

Kashmir was divided between India and Pakistan in war after they gained independence from Britain in 1947, and they fought another full-scale conflict over the region in 1965.

But even as the two nuclear rivals have talked peace in the past two years, New Delhi has continued to accuse Pakistan of training, arming and funding the militants. Islamabad insists it only offers the rebels diplomatic and moral support.

Mumbai's commuter rail network is among the most crowded in the world.

Its very sad indeed!
Thanks for the news and pictures...

OMG!!😭This is so scary.

Death toll in India train bombings at 131

By RAMOLA TALWAR BADAM, Associated Press Writer
8 minutes ago



BOMBAY, India - Seven bombs hit Bombay's commuter rail network during rush hour Tuesday evening, killing 131 people and wounding more than 300 in what authorities called a well-coordinated terrorist attack. There was no immediate claim of responsibility in the bombings, which came in quick succession — a common tactic employed by Kashmiri militants.


India's major cities were put on high alert after the blasts. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called an emergency Cabinet meeting and said that "terrorists" were behind the attacks.

Chaos engulfed the crowded rail network in India's financial capital following the blasts that ripped apart train compartments as authorities struggled to treat the wounded amid heavy monsoon downpours. Doors and windows were blown off the train cars, and witnesses said body parts were strewn near stations.

Luggage and debris were spattered with blood. Survivors clutched bandages to their heads and faces, and some frantically dialed their cell phones.

An Indian news agency put the death toll at 131. Bombay Police Chief A.N. Roy said on Indian television that more than 300 were injured.

"We are busy in the rescue operation. Our first priority is to rescue the injured people," Roy said. Indian television showed video of bystanders carrying victims to ambulances and searching wreckage for survivors and bodies.

In Washington, the State Department said it had no information about whether there were any American casualties.

A senior Bombay police official, P.S. Pasricha, said the explosions were part of a well-coordinated attack. Vilasrao Deshmukh, the chief minister of Maharashtra state, where Bombay is located, said bombs had caused all seven blasts.

The Bombay bombings came hours after a series of grenade attacks by Islamic extremists killed eight people in the main city of India's part of Kashmir.

Police also reportedly carried out raids across the country following the Bombay blasts. One TV report said a suspect was in custody.

Indian Home Minister Shivraj Patil told reporters that authorities had had some information that an attack was coming, "but place and time was not known."

The first explosion hit the train at a railway station in the northwestern suburb of Khar, said a police officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

India's CNN-IBN television news, which had a reporter aboard one train, said a blast struck a first-class compartment as the train was moving, ripping through the compartment and killing more than a dozen people.

Some of the injured frantically dialed their cell phones.

Another CNN-IBN reporter said he had seen more than 20 bodies at one Bombay hospital.

The Press Trust of India, citing railway officials, said all the blasts had hit first-class cars.

Pranay Prabhakar, the spokesman for the Western Railway, said all train service had been suspended and appealed to the public to stay away from stations in the city of 16 million people — India's principal port on the Arabian Sea.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since the subcontinent was partitioned upon independence from Britain in 1947, two over Kashmir.

Dozens of militant groups have been fighting Indian rule in Kashmir, demanding the mostly Muslim region's independence, or its merger with Pakistan.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry late Tuesday strongly condemned the Bombay attacks.

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf offered condolences over the loss of life, the Foreign Ministry said, adding: "Terrorism is a bane of our times and it must be condemned, rejected and countered effectively and comprehensively."

New Delhi has accused Pakistan of training, arming and funding the militants. Islamabad insists it only offers the rebels diplomatic and moral support.

After coming close to fighting a fourth war in 2002, Pakistan and India embarked on a peace process aimed at resolving their differences, including their conflicting claims to all of Jammu-Kashmir.

Accusations of Pakistani involvement in a 2001 attack on India's parliament put the nuclear-armed rivals on the brink of a fourth war. But since then, Pakistan and India embarked on a peace process aimed at resolving their differences, including their conflicting claims to all of Jammu-Kashmir.

Source: Yahoo http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/2006 0711/ap_on_re_as/india_train_explosion

Musharraf, Aziz condemn Mumbai train blasts

Islamabad, July 11

Terming the bomb blasts in Mumbai's trains that killed over 100 people as a ''despicable act of terrorism'', Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz have condemned the attacks.

''Pakistan strongly condemns the series of bomb blasts on commuter trains in Mumbai. This despicable act of terrorism has resulted in the loss of a large number of precious lives,'' said a statement issued by the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson toni ght.

''The President and Prime Minister of Pakistan have also strongly condemned this terrorist attack and have expressed condolences over the loss of innocent lives. Terrorism is a bane of our times and it must be condemned, rejected and countered effectivel y and comprehensively,'' the statement said. The statement, however, made no mention of a string of grenade attacks at Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir that killed eight people. -- PTI

Source: The Hindu Business Line http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/businessline/blnus/00112 206.htm

CII expresses shock over Mumbai blasts

New Delhi, Jul 11

Apex industry chamber CII expressed shock at the bomb blasts that rocked Mumbai this evening and expressed hope that calm and peace will prevail over the city.

CII said it was ''shocked and grieved at the bomb blasts.''

''We pray for calm and peace and hope that the perpetrators will be brought to book,'' the chamber said. -- PTI

Source: The Hindu Business Line http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/businessline/blnus/00112 205.htm

135 dead .. its confirmed as per CNN as of now
260 wounded 😭

This is so unfair, why they had to leave while they are innocent 😕

Gory scenes and human touch at explosion site

Mumbai, July 11

For Dipak Singh Chauhan, an executive housekeeper at Leelavati Hospital, it was a nightmarish experience to see bodies being flung out from the local train compartment in which the terror blast took place in the evening peak hours near suburban Santa Cru z station on Western Railway.

Thirty-two-year-old Chauhan, who had boarded the ill-fated local train from Bandra, was standing at the exit in one of the bogies adjacent to the one in which the blast occurred.

As the explosion occurred, a cloud of smoke enveloped the area and reduced to zero visibility for a few seconds. However, Chouhan could see faintly bodies flung outside the bogie in which the explosion occurred.

He jumped out and walked up to motorman's cabin to collect first aid equipment. As he was a hospital employee, Chouhan took to applying first aid himself to the injured lying on the tracks writhing in pain.

Chouhan told a PTI correspondent that people living near the tracks were quite helpful and came running with bedsheets to carry the injured to the hospital in the absence of stretchers.

Total chaos prevailed at Santa Cruz railway station and it was a gory sight with mutilated bodies and blood splattered on the track and injured crying for help.

The best part was that people came together, carried the injured from the tracks to the road, cleared the way and took the injured to hospitals in autorickshaws. -- PTI

Source: The Hindu Business Line http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/businessline/blnus/00112 204.htm

137 dead, 230 wounded as series of blasts rock Mumbai trains

Mumbai, July 11

At least 137 people were killed and 230 injured in a string of seven terror blasts thar tore through first class compartmenets of suburban trains around 6PM during the peak hour traffic here today.

As the blasts ripped apart train compartments, mangled bodies of passengers fell on the tracks and survivors, many of them bleeding profusely, jostled to come out leading to chaotic scenes.

The blasts occured between 6 p.m. and 6.30 p.m. at Mahim, Bandra, Matunga, Borivili, Mira Road, Jogeshwari and Khar when people from offices were returning home. -- PTI

Source: The Hindu Business Line http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/businessline/blnus/00112 203.htm