July 11, 200619 yr Link At Least 20 Dead in Bombay Train Blasts By Associated Press Published July 11, 2006, 9:32 AM CDT BOMBAY, India -- Seven explosions hit Bombay's commuter rail network Tuesday evening during rush hour, ripping apart train compartments, officials said. Police said at least 20 people were killed. Chaos engulfed the crowded rail network in India's financial capital following the blasts, and authorities struggled to determine the number of casualties. Indian television reported the death toll could be in the dozens. News channels broadcast video of the wounded sprawled on train tracks and being carried through stations to ambulances, past twisted and torn train compartments. Witnesses reported seeing bodies parts strewn about stations. Pranay Prabhakar, the spokesman for the Western Railway, confirmed that seven blasts had taken place. He said all trains had been suspended and appealed to the public to stay away from train stations in the city. The blasts appeared to have come in quick succession -- a common tactic employed by Kashmiri militants that have repeatedly targeted India's cities. The first explosion hit the train at a railway station in the northwestern suburb of Khar, said a police officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. India's CNN-IBN television news, which had a reporter traveling on the train, said the blast took place in a first-class car as the train was moving, ripping through the compartment and killing more than a dozen people. Another CNN-IBN reporter said he had seen more than 20 bodies at one Bombay hospital. All of India's major cities were reportedly on high alert following the attacks, which came hours after a series of grenade attacks by Islamic extremists killed eight people in the main city of India's part of Kashmir.
July 11, 200619 yr Author A series of explosions tore through cars of a commuter railroad in Bombay Tuesday evening at the height of rush hour, killing as many as 100 people, according to media reports. Reuters, citing a top official in the state of Maharashtra where Bombay is located, said at least 40 people had died. Bombay is India's financial center. The city's commuter rail network is among the most crowded in the world, the AP said. Reuters said the blasts hit at least five packed commuter trains in Bombay. At least seven blasts occurred within 15 minutes of each other during rush hour peak traffic, bringing the suburban service to a halt. The Press Trust of India said the explosions hit the packed railway stations in the Matunga, Khar, Santacruz, Jogeshwari, Borivali and Bhayendar areas. The explosions followed a series of grenade attacks hours earlier that killed seven people in Sringar, Indian Kashmir's main city, according to Reuters. U.S.-listed stocks of Indian companies tumbled Tuesday following reports of the blasts, led by carmaker Tata Motors, down 5.2% at $16.09. The rupee was down 0.3% against the dollar following the news.
July 11, 200619 yr A CNN Correspondent was actually on one of the trains. At least 70 people have been killed in seven explosions on crowded rush-hour commuter trains in the Indian financial capital of Mumbai, police said. Officials said more than 300 people were injured in the blasts, which took place between 6:20 and 7 p.m. (1250 and 1330 GMT) when the trains were packed with commuters making their way home. A correspondent for CNN's sister network, CNN-IBN, reported seeing 15 bodies at the Matunga train station in Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay. Video from one station showed people with blood on them being treated, other commuters carrying victims and some people lying motionless near train tracks. (Watch rescuers pull blood-covered victims from wrecked trains -- 1:59) At least one train was split in half by the explosion.
July 11, 200619 yr QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Jul 11, 2006 -> 08:22 AM) Wow, the number of dead keeps going up quickly 135.
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