World | India
Serial blasts hit Indian city of Ahmedabad
More people die of injuries, while India goes on high alert after more than a dozen deadly blasts hit Ahmedabad.
- Agencies
- Published: 18:22 July 26, 2008
- Image Credit: AP
- Families of victims of the blast grieve at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad.
Ahmedabad: A government official said on Sunday that the death toll from a series of deadly blast in Ahmedabad has risen to 45.
Earlier on Sunday, police reported a death toll of 38 after people died of their injuries.
Jaynarayan Vyas, a spokesman for the state government in Gujarat, announced the updated death toll but did not give any details about the number of wounded.
Police had said that 110 people had been wounded in 16 blasts that went off in several of the busy city's neighbourhoods on Saturday, just a day after a series of blasts hit Bangalore.
Indian cities were on high alert and police tightened security in crowded areas like airports, railway stations and markets.
"We have beefed up the security in almost all the crowded places and deployed extra personnel to ensure people's safety," said Rajan Bhagat, Delhi police spokesperson.
Police have also appealed to citizens to report any suspicious activity.
Muslim militant group Indian Mujahedeen reportedly claimed
responsibility for the latest attacks.
Lack of coordination
Meanwhile, officials criticised the lack of coordination between police and intelligence agencies.
"We are surprised that despite a high security alert sounded after the bomb attacks in Bangalore, the blasts occurred in Ahmedabad. We are shocked," India's Junior Home Minister Shakeel Ahmad said.
"It seems there is a lack of coordination between [federal] intelligence agencies and people involved in the policing," he said in New Delhi.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the serial attacks, and urged Ahmedabad residents to remain calm, his office said in New Delhi.
Related Links
- India police: Few clues over bombings
- Serial blasts rock India's IT hub
- Indian shares slump after Bangalore blasts
- Indian ministry seeks report on blasts
- Group claims responsibility by e-mail
- Bangalore police defuse bomb at shopping mall
- 'Approve Gujarat's anti-terror legislation'
- Experts to study pattern of blasts
- Terror rears its head in Bangalore
- Timeline: Major bomb attacks in India
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