20 dead, 50 hurt in bomb blasts in Indian city

HYDERABAD- At least 20 people were killed and over 50 injured as serial bomb blasts ripped through the busy suburban locality of Dilsukhnagar in Hyderabad this evening.

Three explosions occurred in quick succession near Konark and Venkatadri theatres and a foot-over-bridge in the crowded Dilsukhnagar area. The first explosion occurred at 7.10 pm, spreading panic in the area.

The impact of the blast was such that human flesh and body pa

India’s PM calls bombings “dastardly act” NEW DELHI - India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described Thursday’s bombings which killed 18 people in the southern city of Hyderabad as a “dastardly act” and vowed to punish those responsible. “This is a dastardly act and the guilty will not go unpunished,” Singh said, appealing for calm in the aftermath of the explosions. Police said three blasts hit a crowded suburb of the city. -AFP

rts were strewn along the road. According to police sources, who said at least20people died and over 50 were injured in the blasts.Police fear that the death toll may go up as the condition of several injured persons was critical. The profusely bleeding blast victims were shifted to nearby private hospitals.

There was panic soon after the blasts as the people ran for safety. The blast site is one of the busiest localities in the city, with abus depot, a fruit market, theatres and a string of shopping malls
located nearby.

Bomb disposal squads rushed to the area and found that one of the bombs was planted in a scooter. The city police was put on high alertand mobile phone networks have been jammed in and around Dilsukhnagar to prevent false information from being spread.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and State Director General of Police V Dinesh Reddy rushed to the spot to supervise rescueoperations. Incidentally, the police had defused a bomb in the same locality in August, 2007 when twin blasts at a popular eatery and a park in the city had left 42 people dead.