'Dozens' die in Mumbai blasts

2006-07-11 16:10

Commuters wait at Mumbai's Churchgate railway station after train services were suspended following seven explosions.(Press Trust of India, AP)

Mumbai - Seven explosions rocked Mumbai's commuter rail network during Tuesday evening's rush hour, ripping apart train compartments and reportedly killing dozens, police and Indian media said.

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

Indian television reports indicated the death toll could be in the dozens.

Body parts

Witnesses reported seeing body parts strewn about stations, and Indian television news channels broadcast footage of wounded sprawled on tracks and being carried through to ambulances.

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

Pranay Prabhakar, the spokesperson for the Western Railway, confirmed seven blasts had taken place.

He said all trains had been suspended, and appealed to the public to stay away from the city's train stations.

Blasts in quick succession

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 north-western suburb of Khar, said a police officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

India's CNN-IBN television news, which had a reporter travelling 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

First-class carriages targeted

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

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

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.

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

- AP