Temple was crowded
The first blast took place inside the Sankat Mochan temple adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. The bomb went off around 6.30 p.m. when the temple was teeming with devotees during the evening pooja. An eyewitness said a marriage ceremony was in progress at the temple.
``The blast was so powerful that it could be heard across the town ... we have moved five or six badly-burned dead,'' he said.
Everyone was running. There were corpses lying around,'' another witness told a television news channel. ``There was almost a stampede.''
Rescue workers struggled in the city's narrow lanes to cart out the victims, said the people on the scene.
Minutes later, another bomb went off in the holding area of platform one of the Cantonment railway station.
The third blast occurred in a crowded coach of the Shiv Ganga Express just before it was to leave for New Delhi. The compartment was packed with people going on vacation ahead of the Holi.
An official said 10 persons died at the temple and 11 at the railway station. Eight of them were women, he said.
``We are counting the bodies as they are coming in. There is confusion everywhere and all I can say of now is that three of the eight are young girls,'' he told AFP by telephone.
Around 62 people were injured, some in critical condition, he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment