Indian blast death toll rises to 12
Explosions rocked a packed railway station and crowded Hindu temple today in Varanasi, Hinduism’s holiest city, and at least 12 people were killed and dozens injured, officials said.
Authorities were scrambling to determine what caused the blasts, but political leaders suggested it was a bombing with the prime minister condemning the explosions and a top state official promising stern action against those responsible.
Cities across India were put on high alert.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also appealed for calm, said his spokesman, Sanjaya Baru.
The apparent attack on Hinduism’s holiest site came days after Muslims and Hindus battled each other in the nearby city of Lucknow, and angry Hindus looted Muslim shops and burned vehicles in the coastal resort of Goa.
It raised fears of a repeat of Hindu-Muslim violence that rocked western India in 2002 after 60 Hindus pilgrims were killed in a train fire initially blamed on Muslims.
The rioting left more than 1,000 people dead over three months.
The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, the state where today’s blasts occurred, condemned the blasts and appealed for restraint. “Stern action will be initiated against all those found involved in the incident,” Mulayam Singh Yadav said in a statement.
At least 10 people died in what appeared to be two bombings at Varanasi’s train station, and two others were killed in another blast at the temple on the banks of the holy Ganges River, said Kamlesh Pathak, a senior official in the city.
Police had cordoned off both.
But India’s home minister, Shivraj Patil, said there were varying estimates of casualties.
The blast at the Sankat Mochan temple went off near dusk, when the shrine was crowded with devout Hindus making a nightly offering to the monkey-god Hanuman, said Madan Mohan Pande, a police inspector.
At least 22 people were wounded, said police official Mohammed Hashmi.
A witness, Nilesh Utpal, said he saw between 25 to 30 wounded people being taken away in ambulances. “There was a big crowd at the temple” when the explosion occurred, he said.
Televised pictures showed one man, his face bloodied, lying on a stretcher. An old woman lay on the floor, holding up her arms to helpers, who pulled her away. Debris, body parts and blood covered the floor of the temple.
Two other blasts reportedly shook the city’s railway station – one inside a train carriage and the other near the ticket counter in the waiting room of the crowded station.
Police bomb disposal experts were entering the temple to determine what caused the blasts, said Hashni.
Pathak, the city official, said at least 40 people were injured, 22 of them seriously.
One witness, Sunil Yadav, described a scene of confusion, with people running and screaming.
“It was a high intensity blast,” a man identified only as Pradeep told the CNN-IBN television station. “After the blast people were running like anything.
Varanasi, 450 miles east of Delhi, is Hinduism’s holiest city and is ordinarily filled with pilgrims visiting temples and bathing in the holy waters of the Ganges River, which runs through the city.
It’s also a popular spot with foreign tourists, especially backpackers.
| Related Stories: |
|
