....And now the bomb blast in Delhi....
 

A series of explosions rocked Delhi on Saturday evening, killing at least 50 people and leaving 80 injured, 14 of them critically.

As many as 20 people have been killed in an explosion in Sarojini Nagar market and 15 others have reportedly been killed in Paharganj.

The markets were filled with shoppers doing their last-minute purchases for Diwali.

Most of those injured or killed in the explosions were ordinary people out shopping in the festival season.

Suspects detained

At least ten people have been detained following the three blasts in Delhi.

Five of them were picked up from the New Delhi Railway station and others from other railway stations and bus terminals.

It is now believed that high explosive devices suspected to be RDX were used in carrying out the blasts.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in a statement from Kolkata said the blasts are a clear case of terrorism.

"No terrorist can win against India. India will win the battle against terrorism," the Prime Minister said.

Red alert sounded

A red alert has been sounded across several places in the country including neighbouring Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai and Kolkata.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil said it was too early to pinpoint who was responsible for the blasts.

"As to who is responsible for the blasts, we will not like to jump to any conclusion. The first priority is to give relief and succour to those affected by the blasts," the Home Minister said.

"We will enquire to ascertain who is responsible for this and why this happened," he added.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi visited the injured in hospitals. Extending her condolences to the families of those killed in the blasts, she described the incidents as acts of terrorism.

"Terrorism is a menace that we all have to face and fight together. This is not only a phenomenon here in our country. This is something that the whole world has to face. It is important that we all together fight it together," said Gandhi.

Series of blasts

People have been urged to remain calm and move away from crowded markets. Police have ordered all markets in the city to shut down.

The first blast took place in the main bazaar of Paharganj outside the New Delhi Railway Station at 5:38 pm (IST).

The explosion ripped apart the medical shop outside which the explosive device was planted, reportedly in a two-wheeler.

Scores of people have been injured in the explosion, eyewitnesses said.

"I was talking to a client when the blast took place. The blast took place about 20 metres away. Right after the blast, people were running here and there," said Sajjan Singh, shopkeeper, Paharganj.

"My son was right behind me, he was injured in the head and in the smoke I couldn't see where he fell," said Joseph George, another shopkeeper.

The police later barricaded the area and a shop-to-shop search was carried out for any more explosives.

Innocents killed

Around half an hour later, at 6:05 pm (IST), the second explosion took place in Sarojini Nagar market, one of the busiest in the Capital.

Diwali and Eid shoppers were making their last minute shopping when the bomb went off.

"There was a huge explosion as if LPG cylinders had gone off, it wasn't clear what happened. The market was very crowded," said an eyewitness.

Almost instantly, a fire broke out and spread quickly. Within minutes, the fire trucks reached the market and it took 45 minutes to bring the blaze under control.

"The market was completely crowded, there was no place to move. I was standing outside my shop when the blast took place. Ten people died immediately," said a shopkeeper.

Another explosion was reported from Govindpuri in south Delhi.

According to reports, the explosion took place inside a bus, and four people have been critically injured.

How scary and sad :(

this kind of terrorism seems to be spreading like crazy then some idiot president of iran says israel should be wiped off the map. doesnt really help the situation very much. the iraq war is unwinable whichever way you look at it. uk troops dying ,us troops dying ,thousands of innocent civillians killed.
the sickest thing of all is that western governments helped saddam for years allowed him to treat people the way he did.
the taxpayers of the uk lost 1 billion pound in taxation because saddam didnt pay our arms dealers what he owed them and the government bailed them out. (with our money)

the cia funded bin laden to fight the soviets we all know what happened after that.

the world is totally mad. This president of iran (and his cabinet) droped a note down a well in Tehran asking "the saviour" to come up and destroy the world. (no joke its true) because they believe he is hiding down there.

just how crazy can the world get. and once again innocent people blown to bits by hate mongers in Delhi.

did they really actually believe they would make the world any better by invading iraq?

"The people of India have the will, capacity and resolution to win the war against terrorism."

India has blamed previous attacks in the capital on Pakistan-based militants, including one on parliament in 2001 that killed more than a dozen people and brought India and Pakistan to the brink of nuclear war.

However, the country is racked by scores of rebellions and in May two cinema blasts blamed on Sikh separatists killed one person and injured dozens.

The United States recently warned its citizens of a possible terrorist attack on U.S. interests in Delhi and elsewhere, and Indian authorities are hunting a suspected al Qaeda operative. The city's American Embassy School canceled classes on Monday."
(reuters.com)

I hope there will be more information on this soon. From what I've read, 10 suspects have been arrested - surely they can find out what was the reason behind this tragic event. Although that doesn't make any difference for the more than 50 people already killed, of course :(

Its not too surpising as there was hiring on Agra blast suspect in court and also Diwali and Eid fastival was around the corner..... but this very soft target.... :( Well again its still 2005......and again I just afraid that these things will be common in coming year...

Oh i'm planning visit Delhi by end of this year.... this is not changed my plan a bit :)

Good for you Allwyn

The world is changing. Too the worse if you ask me...

ah....now if it is an attack it is done by Pakistan and if there is a natural disaster its nature .... bullshit if u got serious trouble then these natural disasters are also done by pakistan...u betta call it...india has been blaiming pakistan frm the start the reason they dont wanted to get seperated they wanted rule... for nothin...huh....all tht militant groups and terrorists groups as the world calls them....are made by india itself...
i dont want to say this....but World War 3 is not far away now...this time with nuclear bombs....i want peace ... and thts wat every simple man thinks of......peace will let us live otherwise its gotta be ...

yeah good for you my man.

my bro suggested going to sharmin el sikh (or wherever its called that got bombed last year) on holiday next year to his bird because it's cheap and she said no because it'd been bombed. he pointed out that they're planning on going to london in the future so why shouldn';t they go there?



btw anas you're worry is allowed and acknowledge but blindly blaming others is not the way to solve this problem

on a slightly related note. the LVF released a statement saying they were disbanding today in Ulster so at least progress is being made in some parts of the world towards people smartening up and stopping this bullshit.