Ahmedabad blasts toll climbs to 45
Jul 27, 2008 - 4.00pm
The toll in the serial blasts that rocked Ahmedabad in Gujarat climbed to 45 on Sunday and is expected to rise further, police said.
"The toll in the blasts has gone up to 45 with seven people dying overnight. The number of injured is 145," Gujarat's Health Minister Jainarayan Vyas said after a meeting of the state cabinet presided by Chief Minister Narendra Modi [Images].
The injured are admitted in several hospitals including Vadilal Sarabhai Hospital, Civil Hospital and LG Hospital.
Terrorists triggered 16 blasts in a space of 60 to 70 minutes on Saturday evening in crowded market areas of the city.
'The blasts are a proclamation by terrorists'
The areas where the blasts occurred were at Maninagar, Isanpur, Narol circle, Bapunagar, Hatkeshwar, Sarangpur bridge, Sarkhej, Odhav, Sardar Patel market, Civil hospital, Juhapura, Ambur tower building, Raipur and Gowribhadi.
Updates at 9.00am, Jul 27
PTI
AHMEDABAD: The toll in the serial blasts that rocked the city climbed to 38 on Sunday and is expected to rise further, police said.
Apart from the 38 dead, 90 people were injured in the coordinated blasts on Saturday in various places here including two hospitals, they said, adding that the toll is expected to rise.
The injured are admitted in several hospitals including Vadilal Sarabhai Hospital, Civil Hospital and LG Hospital.
Terrorists triggered 17 serial blasts in a space of 60 to 70 minutes on Saturday evening in crowded market areas of the city leaving at least 38 dead and over 90 injured.
The areas where the blasts occurred were at Maninagar, Isanpur, Narol circle, Bapunagar, Hatkeshwar, Sarangpur bridge, Sarkhej, Odhav, Sardar Patel market, Civil hospital, Juhapura, Ambur tower building, Raipur and Gowribhadi.
Updated 11.55 pm IST, Jul 26
PTI
Ahmedabad, Jul 26: Terror struck Ahmedabad when 16 coordinated serial blasts ripped across the city on Saturday night killing 20 people and injuring 100 sending a wave of panic, a day after multiple explosions rocked Bangalore in another BJP-ruled state.
The synchronised "low-intensity" explosions rocked the Gujarat capital in a space of 90 minutes in the eastern and western areas after the first blast hit Maninagar at 6.45 pm occured in 14 places.
There were two blasts each in Maninagar--the constituency of Chief Minister Narendra Modi--and in Sarkej targetting a state transport CNG bus and Sangam theatre.
Significantly, two blasts occured in the premises of Civil and LG hospitals where several victims of the explosions in other areas were rushed. A nationwide alert has been sounded.
"The blasts were of low intensity and similar to those which hit Bangalore," Union Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal told reporters in Kanpur.
Mangled remains of a bus, cycles, motorcycles and an autorickshaw were seen at the blast sites which was splattered with blood and panic spread as people ran for their lives.
Police said at least 20 persons were killed and the deaths were reported from Vadilal Sarabhai, Civil and LG hospitals.
Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil has convened a high level meeting tomorrow morning to review the security situation throughout the country.
Modi condemned the blasts and appealed for calm. His party leader and MP from Gandhinagar L K Advani blamed the Centre and the lack of tough anti-terror laws for the rise in terror activities but would not draw conclusions about two BJP-ruled states-Gujarat and Karnataka--being specifically targeted.
Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta said in New Delhi that National Security Guards(NSG) personnel were being rushed to Ahmedabad where Rapid Action Force(RAF) personnel were already deployed to restore calm in the blast-hit areas some of which are highly sensitive.
The other areas where the blasts occurred at Maninagar, Isanpur, Narol circle, Bapunagar, Hatkeshwar, Sarangpur bridge, Sarkhej, Odhav, Sardar Patel market, Civil hospital, Juhapura, Ambur tower building and Raipur.
The Ahmedabad blasts came a day after the multiple explosions in Bangalore in which two persons were killed.
Police said 35 injured persons were rushed to Vadilal Sarabhai hospital while 25 injured were receiving treatment in LG hospital. Some injured were also in the Civil hospital.
Some of the bombs were placed in tiffin boxes strapped to cycles eerily similar to the Jaipur blasts on May 13 in which 65 persons died.
Television channels claimed they got an e-mail from little known outfit called 'Indian Mujahideen' to say they were responsible for today's blasts. The same outfit had claimed responsibility for the blasts in Jaipur and Uttar Pradesh.
President Pratibha Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the blasts and appealed for calm.
The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the Ahmedabad serial blasts and announced ex-gratia of Rs 1 lakh each to the dead and Rs 50,000 to injured.
One state government CNG bus in which one of the blasts occured was ripped through the middle.
The outer body of the bus was completely smashed while surprisingly most of the seats remained intact including the CNG tank.
Blood was seen splattered inside the bus and near the foot board.
The scene outside the civil hospital was tense with people thronging the place even as ambulances with sirens were seen driving right between them.
"There is heavy traffic jams in areas around Mani Nagar, the CM's constituency where one of the blasts took place Number of ambulances are also seen zipping around," said Udit, a city resident.
Forensic personnel were also rushed to the blast scenes.
Ahmedabad control room number 256301006900
First Update - at 7.30pm, Jul 26
Gujarath: Serial Blasts Rock Ahmedabad - Several Injured
Daijiworld Media Network
AHMEADABAD, Jul 26: Six blasts rocked Ahmedabad on Saturday evening. The blasts were reported from crowded areas like Mani Nagar, Bapu Nagar, Diamond Market, Saharanpur, Raipur and Jawahar Nagar in the old part of the city.
According to the police, all four were low-intensity blasts. Five people were reportedly killed and 27 injured in the blasts.
It is suspected that Tiffin box and cycle have been used to explode the bombs.
The incident happened at 6.45pm
The Ahmedabad serial blasts come a day after two people were killed in seven serial blasts that shook Bangalore.
More details awaited