Multiple blasts hit Mumbai
Three bomb blasts go off within 11 minutes at Zaveri Bazar, Kabutarkhana, and Opera House
Three blasts between 6.54 p.m. and 7.05 p.m. on Wednesday rocked the crowded areas of Mumbai, killing 21 persons and injuring 141 others. The most powerful one, suspected to have been set off by an IED (improvised explosive device), occurred at Zaveri Bazaar in south Mumbai, a congested part of the city, the second at Kabutarkhana near the Dadar suburban railway station in central Mumbai and the third at Opera House, also in south Mumbai.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, confirming the death toll, said the blasts were a terror strike and the police would get to the bottom of it. He said the blasts occurred at 6.54 p.m., 6.55 p.m. and 7.05 p.m.
Appealing to Mumbaikars to remain calm, Mr. Chavan said he had spoken to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram and both of them assured the State all help.
In the blast near a bus stop at Kabutarkhana, according to eyewitness accounts, a car that was passing by was shattered and its driver injured. The damaged bus stop and broken glass of nearby shops bore testimony to the intensity of the bomb, which was placed near the Hanuman Mandir, according to Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Umeshkumar Sarangi.
Mr. Sarangi said the bomb at Zaveri Bazaar was placed in an umbrella, while the one at Opera House was in a manhole. While Mumbai Police Commissioner Arup Patnaik confirmed that it was an IED that was used at Zaveri Bazaar, investigations are still on to confirm the kind of explosive used at the other two places.
At Dadar, eyewitnesses said, the explosion was so loud many thought a building had collapsed. Rajendra Rathod, who has a shop just opposite the place where the bomb went off, told The Hindu that the intensity caused him to fall on the ground. A motorcyclist riding by also suffered the impact. The police cordoned off the entire area which was crammed with onlookers and the media.
There was a scuffle as workers of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) insisted the police were late in taking away the injured persons to hospital. People said they saw at least four persons lying injured and one dead.
Luckily, no schoolchild was injured, said Amruta Parab. For at this time of the day, usually lots of children and parents would be moving around the nearby school. Kabutarkhana is one of the most crowded areas outside the Dadar suburban station and usually there would be 150-200 people around. Rahul Gokhale heard the blast sound a little away at Portuguese Church where he lives in, and came to the site, where he witnessed chaos and confusion.
Pointing out that it was a difficult situation, Mr. Patnaik said Mumbai had witnessed blasts again and again. He promised the people that the guilty would be brought to book.
This is the third bomb blast at Zaveri Bazaar, the heart of the diamond trading area of the city. The earlier two happened in 1993 and in 2003.
On Wednesday, the bomb exploded in an area popularly called “Khau Galli” where people gather to have a snack in the evenings. It was littered with shattered glass and crowds surged to the site.
Jayesh Labdhi, a diamond merchant, was coming out of his office when he heard the loud explosion which he thought was caused by firing. Then he heard people running around and saying it was a blast. He said that he took 14-20 people to hospital. He saw almost 30 people lying around with injuries.
Some eyewitnesses said that they heard two blasts one after the other. Pravinbhai Tanna said the bomb exploded outside a shop called Super Tools. Its owner Syed Radhanpurwalla and some others inside the shop were seriously injured.
Mustafa Patakdawalla, who was helping the injured, saw a huge plume of smoke rising into the sky. Dheeraj Degliya was injured in the leg and hurt by metal particles. After the explosion there was complete darkness in the smoke-filled area. He said rains were a blessing because fewer people were out on the road.
In Opera House the bomb exploded outside the J K building in the Panchvati diamond chowk area. Pankaj Jain, a diamond trader, was in his ground floor office nearby when he heard the explosion which brought a sleet of shattered glass inside. He sustained head injuries and fled the scene to get admitted to the Saifee Hospital. There were scenes of chaos at both the Saifee and Harkisondas hospitals with relatives and the media thronging the place for information.
Jayant Sanghvi lost his hearing after the explosion. Speaking to The Hindu at the Saifee hospital, he said he had suffered head injuries too. The blast was heard a km away and even two streets down the road. On a normal day there would be 3,000 to 4,000 people in the area.
At the GT Hospital, Sadashiv Bhane was badly shaken as his son, who works in Kalbadevi as a clerk, was injured. Barun Samanta, a gold worker is frantically searching for his colleague, Kamal Dalai.
A hospital worker said nearly 30 injured persons were brought from Zaveri Bazaar and most of the serious cases were transferred to JJ and KEM.
Some of the pictures of people injured or killed in the Mumbai bomb explosions may cause distress to readers. They are being published to show the horror, the trauma, and the human suffering inflicted by the terrorist attacks.
Keywords: Mumbai blasts, Zaveri Bazar, Dadar, Opera House, Mumbadevi temple
Comments:
Why politicians are not taking serious actions against terrorism? Why they making India as corrupted? Why cant we be strong and effeciant like other developed country? Punish one who is responsible for this then only they become aware.Not only punishing the attackers but also the politician who is protecting he should know the pain of people.
Live in peace and let others live in peace. God bless India.
As soon as the serial bomb blasts occur, there is a hue and cry, and some persons started commenting that HOME MINISTER MUST RESIGN.....This is highly absurd for two reasons--- no home minister can see that terrorism is annuled-- Also he did not get elected by the people--- the I.A.S. officer /returning officer SELECTED him and saw that he got elected...The Supreme court may give its verdict after 5 years regarding the matter, due to pressure of work. Even Jayalalitha had to wait for 2 years to raise this issue , as she was out of power.
Please do not kill innocents. They are deserved to live.
I never expected Hindu publish this kind of photo. You let me down. Probably I might not advice my kids to read any Indian news paper.
Terror attacks have become routine. Shows nothings been done to increase homeland security. Tightening security only after the attack is ridiculous. Shame on mumbai police and intelligence. Someone must be held accountable.
This is what the condition of the country ,no strong decisions will be taken,only meetings ll takes place,shame on our countries security
India is a potential victim of terrorism all the 365 days in a year.From the current incident we could imagine the capability of terrorism in breaking security setup of Indian intelligence.For thwarting any attempt of terrorism our security fores have to stay alert .....
This is not the way of jihad or some thing you feel.Being a Indian or a Mumbaiker you should think the innocent people are effected,victims may be your friends,relatives.Just we should think what have you achieved.
Its shocking that Mumbaikars have again been target of mindless terrorist attack .The most shocking is that the intelligence agencies and the Govt. knew that it will happen but could not avoid it .Now high alert has been declared but after sometime everybody starts relaxing and thats the time the terrorists wait .So we need to be always on high alert and vigilent .
This is a disgrace to the entire security department. follow US. After the Sept 11 attack no agencies whatsoever could crack - not even a cracker in there. We have to be alert and take fast action.
I don't know why HIndu is publicizing these photos for a common man who is not affected in this tragedy has a big difference between fact and truth, it is sufficient to know the facts for him; don't try to show the truth like you have shown here. One can see how the man is covering his face he might be so embarassed and in pain. It was not expected from a The Hindu to do such a cheap job. Media knows better to cover people's dead lives!
Feel very sad for my brothers and sisters who lost their life and got injured.But very emotional and frustrated towards Government.Question from billon remains is:Why still we failed to hang culprits of 26/11 and other worst incidents? This shows inept of govt.This sends clear and strong messages to the perpetrators that India do not punish anyone and so that we can do anything.Make law stricter.Punish the culptits in short span of time.Do not play politics by giving innocent lives for the terrorists.But still we are united and expecting good from the Government.Because i am an Indian living in democratic country
In reference to the Hindu's decision to publish the pictures of injured and killed in the Mumbai blasts,I would like to say that I do not think it is necessary to publish such insensitive pictures to show the horror and trauma.We are all aware of the human suffering caused by such ghastly incidents and publishing such pictures, I believe , do not help the victims or their families, instead contribute more to their suffering.Thus,I would like to request the Hindu to be more considerate while chosing to publish such sensitive pictures .
This is a Terrific Shock for the Second time to Mumbaikars ,after the 2008 Taj Hotel attack.Indian Commercial Capitol will be the Terrorist target,as Mumbai is More visible for seeing Progress.Print Media should restrict it's coverage for Dead Photos,as today's younger Generation is reading news papers regularly,Particularly The Hindu,because of it's Language.I Pray for the Victims and Speedy recovery for the Injured.
Publishing these photos is a must, so that every citizen should have a human feeling on seeing them. People should not worry about their own kids. Feel for the worried ones. Please try to help them.
I am shocked by people protesting over news and photographs published in Hindu doing great service in exposing security lapses of Mumbai police and Indian anti-terrorism monitoring in the country. It is time Indians demand an explanation for security lapses and follow the example set by USA create separate Dept of Homeland security to prevent Terrorist attacks.
This photo reflects the true state of decay our society and governance has been reduced to. In my opinion we have completely lost our self esteem and ability to face these problems head on and do something about it. Instead of blaming politicians we as subjects must take a very active role by removing any corrupt, inefficient and scum elected by us! If we want things better for us, we have to change as a person first and rest around us will change. Look at the state of our parliament which in true sense reflects the sample from our decaying society with no self esteem. Hope we truly beleive and learn from our great heritage and improve our character and values. First we must change and then our country will change.
We should have learnt to be alert from Mumbai attack in 2008.
Sad that Terror struck Mumbai before,terror strikes Mumbai now and terror may strike tomorrow. Nevertheless, life goes on which is the ultimate truth. But a responsible civilised society and government shall ponder for prevention of such incidents by inducting proactive thinking & approach. But for committed CISF our airports are never safe. We should devise a mechanism through which criminals must be monitored continuously.Also the security set up must be strengthened everywhere. MHA and state police shall have more thinkers than robots to curb this menace.
I am fairly new to Mumbai and have just started working here a couple of months back at Nariman Point... I was just about to leave for home last evening when the news of the blast came... Later on, after about half an hour or so I decided to go home on my bike... On my way i saw that the people of Mumbai were completely calm and the atmosphere was surprisingly calm too. I was quite shocked to notice this that people were still going on with their daily activities as if nothing has happened.. I was told by my cousin later that the ppl of Mumbai have become so used to these kind of attacks that they know its no point in being bothered because this is something tht happens very frequently. This fact is very sad that the ppl of Mumbai had to get used to living in such a type of atmosphere..
It is sad that Mumbai and Indians have once again been targeted by terrorists. I am sure that in our spirit of 'never-say-die' we will once again get back to life as usual. However, it is a fact that many deaths could have been prevented by better disaster management policies. Looking at the photos, it is obvious we have no concepts of basic and advanced life support and trauma management. Many lives are lost or irreparably damaged because as a society we lack these basic concepts. In future it would be great if we could pull up our pants and save the lives of our citizens. Diasaters and terrorist attacks may not be entirely preventable, but our government owes it to our citizens to ensure that as many lives will be saved as possible. Basically unless we ourselves realize that each and every life is precious, the state of affairs is likely to remain the same in our country.
What ever we say,nothing is going to happen because each and every individual is greedy for money. People do anything for money,now-a-days no honest,no love,no truth, no care,no patience & no trust. People are known only for money and nothing else. So some among them will do this and more than this if they get the smell of currency. Ts all in the game of money.Few Like us are helpless.
It's a shame that the Indian government fails to protect its people from terrorism and sacms!
Unless we solve the Kashmir problem, the fanatics from across the border will never stop these kind of attacks. Only way to solve the Kashmir issue is to refer it to UN, acknowledge that Kashmir is indeed 'disputed' territory and if needed arrange for a referendum. I am not saying that we should hand over Kashmir (and keep Jammu) but refer it to UN first. Or we can lament here and forgot about all this in a few weeks until the next attack. Human life is cheap in Indian sub-continent and hence loss of innocent lives doesn't evoke strong and corrective actions. But all this is wishful thinking and the 'hawks' on both sides will not listen to reason and keep harping for more blood...
What do they want? freedom? money? Those are the questions we need to discuss.Not only the politician but also people have responsibility for the incident like this.No one can planned an attack in India without the help of local pple . They must be prosecuted first.
When a Terror attack happens, the concerned elected officers of the area viz: MP;MLA;MLC: and the respective Police Station Head must be dismissed from service with immediate effect.