Series Of Blasts Rock Indian Capital New Dehli

Series of blasts rocks Indian capital New Delhi
State of emergency declared in city; at least 58 killed

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9859307/

Updated: 3:52 p.m. ET Oct. 29, 2005

NEW DELHI - A series of near simultaneous explosions rocked the Indian capital Saturday evening, tearing through a bus and two markets jammed with people shopping for gifts ahead of an upcoming Hindu festival. At least 58 people were killed, officials said.

Scores more people were injured in the three blasts that sent shards of glass, wood and all manner of goods flying. Police declared a state of emergency and ordered all the markets in the city closed.

Terrorism cited
While urging people to remain calm, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh denounced the apparently coordinated bombings as terrorist attacks.

"India will win the battle against terrorism," Singh said in a statement, according to one of his top advisers, Sanjaya Baru.

While he did not say who was suspected in the explosions, the Indian government faces opposition from dozens of militant organizations, including Kashmiri separatists and those opposed to the peace process between Pakistan and India.

The first blast took place about 5:45 p.m in the central Paharganj market, which was crowded with shoppers ahead of Tuesday's Diwali festival, a Hindu holiday where families gather to exchange gifts, light candles and celebrate with fireworks. Minutes later, two more blasts exploded at the Sarojini Nagar market and on a bus.

"When I got up, there were people everywhere -- they were bleeding and screaming," said shop owner Anil Gupta about 45 minutes after the blast as he sifted through the wreckage of his jewelry store. Scattered around his feet were bracelets, necklaces and earrings.

‘Please disperse’
Home Minister Shivraj Patil urged people to stay off the streets. "I appeal to you. Please disperse from the markets and go back to your families," he said in a televised address.

Patil said 39 people were killed in the blast at the Sarojini Nagar market.

Jagtar Singh, a spokesman for the Delhi fire department, said seven people were killed in the Paharganj market blast, and another three were killed on a bus in the Govindpuri neighborhood. He had no further details.

The explosions also come as India and Pakistan began talks on opening their heavily militarized frontier in disputed Kashmir to bring food, shelter and medical aid to victims of the Himalayan region's massive earthquake, which killed about 80,000 people, most of them in Pakistan.

Pakistan, U.K. condemn attacks
Pakistan strongly condemned the attacks, calling them "barbaric" and a "criminal act of terrorism."

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the blasts "appear to have been targeted at heavily populated areas to produce maximum carnage."

"This is yet another example of terrorists' cynical and callous disregard for human life," Straw added. "On behalf of the British government, I would like to offer the people of India my support and deepest sympathy."

Witnesses said the blasts rocked entire neighborhoods.

Babu Lal Khandelwal, a shop owner in the Paharganj market, an area near the train station packed with small shops and inexpensive hotels often filled with foreign backpackers, said the blast knocked him to the ground.

"There was black smoke everywhere. When the smoke was cleared and I could see, there were people bloody and people lying in the street," Khandelwal said.

The blast occurred in a small square of the market and badly damaged a row of shops, including Khandelwal's clothing store, Hirasons. About an hour after the explosion, investigators stood around a small crater filled with debris about 10 feet from the string of shops.

All around, broken glass and other debris littered the street, shops signs were ripped and twisted and clothes -- mostly T-shirts and scarves-- hung from low-strung power lines.

‘Run! Run!’
The second blast targeted the market in Sarojini Nagar, a popular shopping district in the southern part of the city offering everything from knockoff designer clothing to kitchen crockery.

Satinder Lal Sharma said some boys warned him about an unclaimed bag near a tree and he "started shouting 'run! run!"' just before the explosion. It destroyed several shops and left the tree charred and stripped of leaves.

Govind Singh, who sells wallets and toys on cart next to a juice shop devastated in the explosion, said at least five people from his village died in the blast.

The explosion was "so loud that I fell down. Then a fire started," he said.

"I took out at least 20 bodies, most of them were children," Singh said. He and others wrapped the bodies in sheets that were being sold by one of the destroyed shops.

‘Charred beyond recognition’
As he spoke, someone asked him "Where is Lal Chand?"

"He is gone," Singh replied before he started crying.

At Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Dr. S.K. Sharma, the emergency room chief, said four victims of the first blast were dead on arrival and "charred beyond recognition."

They were treating another 30 injured from the same explosion, he said.

However, the burns were not caused by chemicals and most shrapnel injuries had come from flying glass -- not the screws or ball bearings sometimes packed into crude bombs, Sharma said.

"Those who were nearby (the blasts), they got burn injuries; those who were just nearby got burn and splinter injuries," he said.

As he spoke, an ambulance pulled up and paramedics wheeled more victims into the hospital.

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.