Terror struck Mumbai when three serial blasts rocked crowded areas of the city this evening killing at least 17 people and injuring about 117 in a grim reminder of 26/11 attack that left 166 people dead.
Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan said at least 17 people were killed and 81 injured in the back-to-back blasts that struck Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House and Dadar in the space of a few minutes from 6.45pm. The blast at Opera House was "very powerful," Chavan said.
Twenty-nine of the injured were admitted to the JJ goup of hospitals including GT, St George and JJ Hospital.
Two of the injured are at the Shushrusha Hospital in Dadar, five (and one in a critical condition) are at KEM hospital (one of them is a victim of the Opera House blast).
In New Delhi, Union home minister P Chidambaram said 10 deaths have been confirmed and 54 persons admitted to hospitals with injuries.
The death toll could increase, he said, adding there was no report of any other blast or threat. Union home secretary RK Singh said about 100 injured have been admitted to various hospitals.
Chidambaram said the explosions occured within minutes of each other from 6.45pm and from this it can be inferred it is a "coordinated attack" by terrorists." Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) were used to trigger the blasts.
Mumbai police said an IED was recovered from the blast site at Zaveri Bazaar.
Singh said one explosion took place in a Maruti Esteem car and another in a motorcycle.
According to police, the blast in Zaveri Bazaar occurred in a meter box of the electric cabinet of a BEST bus stop.
The first explosion took place at Shakeel Memon street in south Mumbai's Zaveri Bazaar, near famous Mumbadevi temple, in which at least 25 persons were injured, said Mumbai police spokesperson Nisar Tamboli. The bustling market also has a number of jewellery shops.
Around 25 people sustained injuries in another blast at Diamond Market near Opera House, also in south Mumbai, while three persons were wounded in yet another explosion at Kabutar khana in Dadar (West) in central Mumbai.
Chavan said that the injured people have been admitted to St George, Nair and KEM Hospitals.
A high alert has been sounded across the city following the blasts.
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