34 killed in two blasts in southern India: official
Pastor Dale Morgan
34 killed in two blasts in southern India: official*
HYDERABAD, India (AFP) - - Two near-simultaneous blasts tore through the
Indian city of Hyderabad late Saturday, killing at least 34 people and
injuring more than 50 in what a senior official said was a suspected
terror attack.
One explosion rocked a crowded auditorium where a laser show was
underway, while another blast ripped through a street eatery minutes later.
"We have 34 people officially reported dead and more than 50 injured.
Fifteen of them are in serious condition," R.V. Chandravardan, a top
administrator of Hyderabad, told AFP.
Federal Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal said the
explosions in the city, which has a large Muslim population and is
considered communally sensitive, were the handiwork of "some terrorist
group."
"One terrorist group or the other, which is bent on destroying the unity
of the country, is certainly involved in the blasts in Hyderabad",
Jaiswal said.
About 40 percent of Hyderabad's 6.5 million population is Muslim.
Ten days ago, when India was celebrating the 60th anniversary on August
15 of its independence, authorities stepped up security across the
country after new threats by Al-Qaeda and separatist rebels.
Police chiefs said then that, while there was nothing specific, they
were taking the terror threat very seriously.
The Hyderabad city administrator said Saturday that police "already have
some leads" but did not elaborate.
The Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajshekhar Reddy called on
"everyone to be calm. Every possible effort is done to maintain calm."
Dismembered limbs, clothes and shoes of people watching the laser show
in Lumbini Park lay on the ground and there were pools of blood where
the injured had fallen.
"People were running away, some who were hurt with blood streaming from
their bodies," a private security guard said.
Injured people were rushed away in three-wheel scooters and cars to
hospital.
Chandrashekar Reddy, the spokesman for the chief minister, said a "red
alert" had been declared throughout the city.
The chief minister said about 500 people were in the auditorium at the
time of the incident.
The federal Home Minister Shivraj Patil said he would visit Hyderabad on
Sunday.
Explosive experts visited the sites and collected samples of materials
used in the blasts. Police evacuated the areas where the explosion occurred.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the blasts and expressed his
deep concern.
India has suffered a series of recent terrorist attacks.
On July 11, 2006, seven bomb blasts ripped through financial hub
Mumbai's rail network killing at least 186 people and wounding 800.
India has frequently accused Islamic militant groups fighting its rule
in revolt-hit Indian Kashmir of being behind the attacks.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and both nuclear rivals
claim the region in full.
The neighbours have fought two wars over the Himalayan territory where
at least 42,000 people have been killed in the separatist revolt since 1989.
Pakistan denies any involvement in attacks on Indian soil.