HYDERABAD, India, 26 August 2007 — A string of blasts tore through the southern Indian city of Hyderabad late yesterday, killing at least 36 people and injuring 60 in what officials called a terrorist attack.
Three explosions rocked a packed auditorium where a laser show was under way in an amusement park jammed with weekend crowds, while two others ripped through a busy street eatery minutes later, police said. “To be precise, a total of five explosive devices were used. We now have at least 36 people killed and 60 people injured,” Balwinder Singh, Hyderabad police chief, told reporters.
The first series of explosions occurred in a public park — the Lumbini Park — abutting Hussain Sagar lake — near the state secretariat and the other series of blasts took place at a popular eatery — Gokul Chat Bhandar — in the busy Kothi area. Lumbini Park is located just across the road from the state secretariat in the high-security central zone area of Hyderabad police.
According to eyewitnesses, a big explosion occurred in the 15th row of seats at the open air amphitheater of Lumbini Park when the laser show was on at around 7.40 p.m.
More than 200 people were watching the laser show when they heard the loud noise. Three persons were killed on the spot and several others critically injured.
Some of the critically injured persons succumbed at the nearby Mediciti Hospital where they were rushed for treatment. The death toll was much higher at the eatery in view of the evening rush. The injured from the eatery were rushed to Osmania General Hospital, where several of them died.
A red alert was sounded in Hyderabad and the state in the wake of the bomb blasts. Chief Minister Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy and Home Minister K. Jana Reddy, who visited both the spots and the Osmania General Hospital, appealed to the people to maintain calm.
“I deeply mourn the dead in the blasts in Hyderabad today. Both the blasts appear to be the handiwork of anti-national elements. All these casualties are regrettable. The bomb blasts are the cruelest act against humanity. The perpetrators of such acts could have no religion, ideological or national identity. They at best could be described as traitors of humanity,” Dr. Reddy said.
