A milk man walks past passers-by and media persons standing in rain at Zaveri bazar, one of three sites of explosions. - AP Photo
At least 21 people were killed and nearly 150 injured by a series of blasts in busy localities of Mumbai on Wednesday evening.
Policemen stand at the blast site at Opera House. - AFP photo
An Indian police officer inspects the debris at the Opera House. - AP Photo
A policeman walks past a television journalist reporting from the site of an explosion near the Dadar area. – Reuters photo
A policeman walks past a television journalist reporting from the site of an explosion near the Dadar area. – Reuters photo
Friends and family members console Vipul Soni (C) younger brother of blast victim Pankaj Soni, as they perform his last rites inside a crematorium in. - AFP photo
A bomb squad member collects evidence at the site of an explosion at Dadar. - AP photo
The first blast occurred in Zaveri Bazaar, the heart of Mumbai’s jewellery trade, at 6.50pm, followed soon after by one at Dadar, about 10km to the north. This was followed by a third explosion at Opera House, also in south Mumbai, about 10 minutes later. All three are congested areas, with tens of thousands of traders, office-goers and commuters leaving for home.
People carry a victim of a bomb explosion at Dadar in Mumbai. - AP photo
Indian police cordon off the area of a bomb blast site in Dadar Kabutarkhana area. - AFP photo
Arup Patnaik, Mumbai’s police commissioner, said the terrorists had used improvised explosive devices to trigger off the blasts.
Indian bystanders gather around a damaged vehicle at a bomb blast site in the Dadar District. - AFP photo
After the blasts, a red alert was issued in Mumbai, even as the police blocked roads and exits to the city. Blood-covered bodies lay on Mumbai streets and people hugged and wept. Others carried the wounded to taxis. Crowds gathered in the blast areas as police questioned witnesses and bomb squads inspected the undercarriages of vehicles searching for clues and other explosives. Motorcycles were charred, shop-fronts shattered and a bus stop ripped apart. Bleeding victims crowded into the back of a cargo truck to be taken to a hospital.
