Blasts rock Mumbai rail network
2006-07-11 15:40
Mumbai - At least two explosions went off in India's financial capital Mumbai during the evening rush hour on Tuesday, one on a crowded commuter train and one near a mid-town train station, police and witnesses said.
The blasts were about 20 minutes apart, a police official said.
Several people were injured in the blast on the train travelling from Mumbai's Khar suburb to Andheri in the city centre, the official said. No further details were immediately available.
"The fourth carriage is completely wrecked and we have seen between eight to 10 heavily injured people being brought out," said a witness, local shopkeeper Gopi Chand.
"The blast was so powerful that we thought we were hit by lightning. It shook our market," Chand said.
The second blast occurred at Mahim railway station, police said, but gave no further details.
The sprawling city, which is noted for its extensive underworld, has seen several bombings in the past. It was rocked in 1993 by a series of blasts which killed some 250 people and injured over 1 000.
On March 9 two separate blasts rocked the holy Hindu city of Varanasi, leaving more than a dozen killed and scores injured.
Police have blamed Muslim underground figures or Kashmiri militants for most of the blasts.
- AFP