3 New Delhi Explosions Kill at Least 49
Oct 29, 2005 By MATTHEW ROSENBERG
NEW DELHI (AP) - Coordinated explosions in India's capital ripped through at least two markets jammed with evening shoppers ahead of an upcoming Hindu festival and a bus, killing at least 49 people.
Officials blamed terrorists for the blasts, which came as India and nuclear rival Pakistan began unprecedented talks on opening their disputed and heavily defended Kashmir frontier to bring food, shelter and medical aid to victims of the Himalayan region's massive earthquake.
The first explosion hit New Delhi's main Paharganj market, leaving behind bloodstained streets and mangled stalls of wood and twisted metal. Within minutes came an explosion at the popular Sarojini Nagar market - the deadliest, with 39 killed - and the bus blast in the Govindpuri neighborhood. Police said at least 60 people were wounded in the first blast and dozens in the other two.
Police declared a state of emergency and closed all city markets. "I appeal to you. Please disperse from the markets and go back to your families," Home Minister Shivraj Patil said in a televised address.
(AP) Fire work to put out a fire after an explosion at the Sarojini Market area in New Delhi, India,...
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The attacks targeted the many people shopping just days before the festival of Diwali, a major Hindu holiday during which families exchange gifts, light candles and celebrate with fireworks. The markets where the blasts occurred often sell fireworks that are elaborate and potentially dangerous.
Babu Lal Khandelwal, a shop owner in the central Paharganj neighborhood, an area of small stores and inexpensive hotels frequently crowded with foreign backpackers, said the blast knocked him to the ground.
"There was black smoke everywhere," he said. "When the smoke cleared, I could see there were people bloody and lying in the street."
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged people to remain calm and said in a statement that "India will win the battle against terrorism," according to one of his top advisers, Sanjaya Baru, who said the explosions were the work of terrorists but did not say who was believed to be behind them.
The Indian government faces opposition from dozens of militant organizations - from tiny fringe organizations to well-armed Kashmiri rebel groups - but no group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombings.
(AP) Fire fighters try to douse a fire after an explosion at the Sarojini Market area in New Delhi,...
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Hours before the explosions, Indian and Pakistani officials opened talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, on whether to let Kashmiris hit by the devastating Oct. 8 earthquake cross the militarized Line of Control, the cease-fire line that divides the region over which the longtime enemies have fought two wars.
Pakistan condemned the multiple attacks in New Delhi.
"The attack in a crowded market place is a criminal act of terrorism. The people and government of Pakistan are shocked at this barbaric act and express deep sympathy with the families of the victims," a Foreign Ministry statement said.
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."
Amid the chaos of the blast scenes, television footage showed groups of men making their way through piles of chest-high debris, salvaging the few items left intact: a child-size purple plastic chair, a red storage bin, a lone bicycle wheel.
Uniformed officers tried to clear people away so ambulances and fire trucks could pass through; others tried to bring a sense of order to the cleanup efforts. A number of people were carried away on stretchers, including a young woman in a purple shirt who thrashed her arms and cried out as a medical team attended to her.
Investigators stood around a small crater filled with debris, about 10 feet from a string of shops.
Fire department spokesman Jagtar Singh seven people were killed in the first blast, in the crowded central neighborhood of Paharganj and three were killed on the bus. Patil, of the Home Office, said 39 people were killed in the blast in the Sarojini Nagar market, often crowded for its variety of goods from knockoff designer clothing to kitchen crockery.
"The blast was so powerful, my house shook," said Kiran Mohan, a photo editor who lives about 200 yards away from the Sarojini Nagar market. |
