The Hindu : Front Page : Panic grips city, people run for cover

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Sunday, Jul 27, 2008
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Panic grips city, people run for cover

— Photo: AFP

A young girl injured in the Ahmedabad blasts, at a hospital on Saturday.

Ahmedabad: Mangled remains of a bus, cycles and motorcycles along with splattered blood was all that was left after over a dozen serial bomb blasts ripped through the city of Ahmedabad.

Panic spread as people ran for their lives almost leading to a stampede in the areas where the blasts occurred.

What lay right in the middle of one of the roads was a State government CNG bus ripped through the middle as one of the blast had taken place in it.

Blood was seen splattered inside the bus and near the footboard. People could be seen rushing injured persons to the ambulances.

The scene outside the civil hospital was just short of a riot with people thronging the hospital even as ambulances rushed in.

“There are heavy traffic jams in areas around Mani Nagar, the Chief Minister’s constituency where one of the blasts took place. A number of ambulances are also seen zipping around,” said Udit, a city resident.

Forensic personnel could be seen scurrying through the blasts scenes even as policemen tried to maintain a cordon. Medics rushed dozens of wounded people to hospitals, leaving behind trails of blood on sidewalks. In Bapunagar, the blast shattered windows of a bus. A black motorcycle was found abandoned near the blast site in Maninagar.

Security forces sealed the Ahmedabad railway station and tightened security around at the airport. Mobile and landline networks got jammed for some hours as people called up families and friends to alert one another about the blasts.

People ran from the troubled areas dodging police barricades, some of them crying and others wounded, as they left shoes and trails of blood on roadsides. Policemen were trying to gather debris and remnants from the crude bombs for analysis.

Traffic was a standstill at checkpost intersections with a melee of people all around as police erected barricades to check vehicles.

Tension was palpable on city streets as the blasts came a day after nine devices exploded in Bangalore, leaving two people dead and 12 injured. — PTI

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