BOMBAY’S RUSH HOUR ROCKED BY BLASTS (11 Updates)

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Ultrabrown.jpg Breaking News in Bombay via AP:

Seven explosions rocked Bombay’s commuter rail network during Tuesday evening’s rush hour. The blasts ripped apart train compartments and reportedly killed dozens, police and Indian media said.

Though the chaos makes it difficult to ascertain exact numbers, how many have been injured, Indiant tv reports said that “the death toll could be in the dozens.” 40 80 100 105 137 163 172 200 people have died and 300 464 700 are injured. I’m sure that before I can even update this post, one of you will comment with the latest numbers; I sincerely hope that they are not high. I know, I’m excessively idealistic, but whenever I hear “Breaking News”, “Bombs” or “Trains” or similar, I screw my eyes shut and pray for miracles.

Television images showed injured victims sprawled on train tracks, frantically dialing their cell phones. Some of the injured were being carried away from the crash site. The force of the blasts ripped doors and windows off carriages, and luggage and debris were strewn about.
Pranay Prabhakar, the spokesman for the Western Railway, confirmed that seven blasts had taken place. He said all trains had been suspended, and he appealed to the public to stay away from the city’s train stations.
Bombay, India’s financial center, and New Delhi, the capital, were reportedly on high alert. Bombay’s commuter rail network is among the most crowded in the world.

Developing… 🙁

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UPDATE # 1

Though CNN is reporting that no group has claimed responsibility, the NYT has updated the article I originally cited with the following:

The blasts appeared to have come in quick succession — a common tactic employed by Kashmiri militants that have repeatedly targeted India’s cities.
The first explosion hit the train at a railway station in the northwestern suburb of Khar, said a police officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
India’s CNN-IBN television news, which had a reporter traveling on the train, said the blast took place in a first-class car as the train was moving, ripping through the compartment and killing more than a dozen people.
…All of India’s major cities were reportedly on high alert following the attacks, which came hours after a series of grenade attacks by Islamic extremists killed eight people in the main city of India’s part of Kashmir.

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UPDATE # 2

MANISH IS OKAY.

The image you see above is from Ultrabrown; his post on this horrific terrorist attack is here.

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UPDATE # 3

CNBC’s reporter phones in to update the death toll: 100.

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UPDATE # 4

The Mumbai Help blog has resources, updates and a very important reminder that blood donors are needed desperately.

If you’re not shaken to your very core by this tragedy yet, perhaps this simple quote from that site will affect you as much as it has unexpectedly moved me (every other person on my team at work is a PWCer):

I’m so sorry

harshad borgaonkar from price waterhouscooper. His i-card was found amongst the debries [link]

My prayers are with all who were lost, those who are injured, those who are fighting to literally pick up the pieces and help, those who cannot reach family and friends and everyone else who is affected by this craven, calculated attack.

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UPDATE # 5

Bloomberg.com provides new and updated totals:

India’s commercial hub, was rocked by seven explosions on trains and in commuter stations yesterday, killing at least 163 people and injuring 464 in the nation’s worst terrorist attack in 13 years. [link]

There is now a wiki for the event and instead of lashing out scornfully against India’s neighbor, please note that it was created by a Pakistani-American in California named Sabahat Ashraf (via ASATA’s mailing list). SAJA says he “helped lead similar resource (sic) during 2005 Kashmir earthquake”.

SAJA’s contribution to blast-related resources–which includes a link to SM Alum Manish Vij’s Ultrabrown— is here.

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UPDATE # 6

Via Reuters, the grim reality of the wounded city, where predictably, they are running low on hospital beds as well as blood:

“Most of the patients have received burn injuries and are suffering from severe trauma,” M.E Yeolekar, head of Sion Hospital, told Reuters.
“In my entire career as a physician, this is the second destruction I have seen of this magnitude,” he said, referring to bomb blasts in the western city in 1993 which killed 250 and wounded around 1,000 people.

On whom we are praying for:

Hundreds of relatives frantically pored over a list of dead and injured outside the hospital, a scene repeated at many other hospitals, packed with people searching for friends and relatives.
Some of the people who entered a makeshift morgue were unable to identify badly mutilated bodies.

Considering some of the uglier talk on this thread and elsewhere, it’s important to remember that Muslims died, too:

“I spoke to him 10 minutes before he died,” said Haji Mastan, sobbing uncontrollably over the death of his cousin Mukti Mahmood Darvesh, who was travelling on one of the suburban trains.
“Why did it have to end like this? He was young and he has children.”

It’s always darkest before the dawn:

In another hospital, staff constantly mopped up blood from the floor as patients were being wheeled in by the minute.
“We collected scattered limbs with our own hands and put them in bundles and sent them to hospital,” said Santosh Patil, a railway labourer, as he stretchered in a mangled body.

First person account of an attack designed for maximum carnage:

“It was a deafening sound and before anybody could realise anything the roof of the train was ripped apart,” said Mukund Thakur, who was travelling to the northern suburb of Andheri.
“People were thrown outside. I saw limbs strewn around me.”

During our lowest moments, all we have is each other:

Local people distributed food and water among hundreds of people who waited for news from their near and dear ones.
“We are trying to persuade them to have something,” Gurpreet Singh Bangar told Reuters.
“In this moment of distress and tragedy, people don’t care for food,” he said. “But everybody has to live.”

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UPDATE # 7

More from the Beeb. Some commuters never had a chance:

An eyewitness at Mahim told the BBC some of those who had jumped from the train were run over by another train coming in the opposite direction.

Others were lost in the stampede which was inevitable, considering all the panic.

What price, for a life? Nothing can truly compensate for such a staggering loss, but…

The Indian railway minister, Laloo Prasad Yadav, has announced financial help for the victims and their relatives. He said relatives of those killed will get 500,000 rupees ($11,000) each.
He has promised jobs for the victims’ relatives and said the railways would also bear treatment costs for the injured.

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UPDATE # 8

I know, it’s ten hours old, but this quote from the web chat WaPo hosted with Suketu Mehta, the author of Maximum City, almost makes me smile:

Washington, D.C.: As a former Bombay resident, I was pleasantly pleased at the way the city reacted to the bomb blast last time around. I hope the same sense will prevail this time as well — nothing defeats the terrorists more than gettting back to normal within hours of such an incident.

Every resident of the city — former or current — walks wounded today.

Suketu Mehta: Bombay is not going to be beaten down by these blasts. In 1993, the blasts killed 257 people; one of the buildings bombed was the Stock Exchange. The plotters were hoping to cripple the financial nerve center of the city. When the Stock Exchange reopened two days later, using the old manual trading system because the computers had been destroyed, it actually gained ten percent in the next two days. Just to show them.

Show ’em again.

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UPDATE # 9

Mutineer Neha reminds me to check and then change the “tolls”. At this point, 900 people are either dead or injured (200/700). Have mercy.

The number of dead in the eight near-simultaneous bombings during Tuesday evening’s rush hour in India’s financial hub has risen steadily as rescue efforts uncovered more bodies and people have succumbed to their injuries.[link]

Meanwhile, the city kept on keepin’ on and Suketu Mehta (see Update # 8) was right. As one tipster wrote about the Sensex in our News tab, “Can’t touch this”:

Following the serial bomb blasts in Mumbai yesterday, the Sensex opened marginally (nine points) lower at 10,605…Early nervousness saw the index slip to a low of 10,550. However, buying emerged at these levels and the index rebounded into the positive zone.
Unabated buying in technology and select index heavyweights saw the index surge to higher levels in the latter half of the day. The index touched a high of 10,939 – up 389 points from the day’s low. The Sensex finally ended with a gain of 3% (316 points) at 10,930.[link]

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UPDATE # 10

More, from the Guardian/AP. While people once again board trains and the city limps back to its routine, hell isn’t over for far too many Mumbaikars:

Authorities say they do not know how many missing people there are. But Indian television stations are broadcasting pictures of dozens of missing in the hopes of helping relatives locate them.

You know how everyone knows or is related to someone in NYC? Same with Bombay:

“I’ve been searching for hours. I don’t know where else to go,” he sighed.
His colleague’s family lives in the southern city of Bangalore. “His wife called me up and said she hadn’t heard from him and we’ve been searching ever since.”
Because so many hospitals are treating victims, the search is difficult, Ahir says. Making matters worse, many with lesser wounds have been sent to the city’s many small clinics because the hospitals are overflowing.
“What do I tell her when she calls again?” he asked.

I hadn’t even thought of this heartbreaking reality:

There are also victims without families.
At a suburban hospital, a small boy lies unconscious, an oxygen mask strapped to his face. No one knows who he is.
“We searched him for identification, any photographs, but there is nothing,” said volunteer Shilpa Basin. “What if he was traveling with someone and they are injured as well?”

How many children are orphans now? If he wakes up, will this little boy even know where he’s from, what his parents’ names are, who he is? Heartbreaking.

This reminds me of Lower Manhattan, after September 11:

Gandhi, a college student, said her family had spread out to various city hospitals. “We’re taking his picture and showing it to anyone – to injured people, even to relatives of victims. Maybe someone will remember seeing him and we will find him,” she said.

Another horrifying problem: how do you identify someone after something like this…

Gautam Chavan, is fearing the worst.
“I saw how the coach had exploded, if that is the state of a rail coach, what chance do people inside have?”
Scenes of badly wounded people being brought to the hospitals upset him.
“What if we can’t recognize him? What if he’s not recognizable? When will we know?” he cried.

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UPDATE # 11

Via The Hindu: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri makes tactless remarks, which rightfully get condemned by India (and me).

External Affairs Ministry Spokesman Navtej Sarna said “no cause” could justify killing of innocent people…we find it appalling that Foreign Minister Kasuri should seek to link the blatant and inhuman act of terrorism against innocent men, women and children to so called lack of resolution of disputes between India and Pakistan”.

What did the Foreign Minister say exactly? Oh, just this:

Kasuri has said the “best way” of dealing with extremism in South Asia is to tackle “real issue” of Jammu and Kashmir.

Right, because that justifies the slaughter of innocents.

Noting that not much progress has been made on Kashmir problem, (Kasuri) said “incremental approach is good but now we must tackle real issues. And this is the best way of tackling extremism in South Asia”.

Of course it is. Kill first, talk later.

410 thoughts on “BOMBAY’S RUSH HOUR ROCKED BY BLASTS (11 Updates)”

  1. Just heard about this. Tried calling home, but it seems that all the lines are jammed.

  4. Email’s working. My folks just emailed me to say they’re ok. Fucking terrorists.

  5. Try text messaging your friends and family back home. May go through despite phone lines being jammed. Scary…scary..I have got family living near those areas.

  9. http://mumbaihelp.blogspot.com/ for updates. Condolences to the victims and their families. Here is hoping that this does not lead to further bloodshed. As a Bombayite i grieve for my city but am sure the Bombayite spirit will surmount this tragedy.

  10. Those with family and friends in Mumbai can use the following numbers to get information about their well-being:

    MUMBAI HELPLINE: (022) 22005388 COOPER HOSP: 26207254, 26207256 HINDUJA HOSP: 24451515, 24452222

    (from NDTV.com)

  12. Masale.Wallah, how exactly do those numbers you provided work? Will they provide info on the victims or call folks at home for people who cant reach them due to jammed phone lines?

  13. My mom was in one of the following trains and she got down near Borivali. She could see the carnage from outside. The phone lines are jammed. Very difficult to get in touch with people. Thats the exact time and route, I used to take when I was in Bombay and a lot of my friends still do the daily commute. Trying to get in touch with them

  14. Why is it so hard to get information on TV? CNN was showing images from Mumbai and talking about Saudi text books! And then Daryn whatever-her-name-is said “let’s get the latest from Italy.” Seriously. Everything they’re getting is attributed to AP.

    A CNN IBN reporter said 100 dead but 300+ wounded.

  15. In this moment – pray for everyone’s health and well being. For the people who have lost loved ones: I offer two statements from our Mahatma: Hate the sin, love the sinner. [For,] the weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.

  16. I hope that the death toll does not rise further.

    Why is it so hard to get information on TV?

    MSNBC’s coverage is quite comprehensive. They’re virtually feeding CNBC-India’s live-feed for the last 2 hours. You can also view the live-feed of CNN_IBN at http://www.ibnlive.com

  17. I have tried getting in contact with relatives using both a Reliance calling card and the old fashioned dialing method – but no luck. I’ve e-mailed a cousin, currently visiting New Delhi, and hope to hear some good news. MSNBC’s website does seem to be the strongest of the news websites right now.

  19. My dad got through to a mobile. Keep hitting redial, if email isn’t an option.

    CNN IBN is calling it Mumbai 7/11… Terrible, I know, but it sort of made me giggle.

  20. Tamasha,

    It is appalling how you make light of the situation, neither 9/11 or 7/11 as you put it are giggle inducing. People have lost their lives and the least you can do is show some respect.

  21. Those trains are mad crowded too. this could get bad….i’e got some frineds that live around there. scary…

  23. Usually, Mumbai’s suburbs don’t get much attention, and it’s just sad to see the names of suburbs around which I grew up flashed on American news in such a context. Borivili, Jogeshwari, Santacruz etc.

  24. It is appalling how you make light of the situation, neither 9/11 or 7/11 as you put it are giggle inducing. People have lost their lives and the least you can do is show some respect.

    let’s try to hold off the sanctimonious sniping for, oh, maybe half a day at least? stay focused, people.

  25. i quote from the AP article: “The blasts appeared to have come in quick succession — a common tactic employed by Kashmiri militants that have repeatedly targeted IndiaÂ’s cities.”

    I noticed they were called “militants”, not “terrorists”. Does anybody think this is because the bombings happend in india, not the usa/western europe/israel/whatever? Or am i reading to much into their choice of words?

  26. My prayers to all those who went through this ordeal, Those poor folks…

    I’m sure somewhere out there the people responsible for this are watching tv, smiling, hugging co-conspirators and e-mailing messages of congratulations to each other and receiving them from their supervisors.

    Whatever their cause is, they believe innocent civilians are a worthy target.

    Whether they are religious zealots committed to bringing out communal tensions or Terrorists who favor the ‘Kashmir Liberation’, I hope the strength of India’s intelligence goes after them with the same fervour as they went after ‘D’ company gangsters.

    And once they are proven guilty, EXTERMINATE them and any other would be martyr’s to the ’cause’.

  27. Just spoke to my Mom. Redialling continuously works. SHE WAS IN THE TRAIN IN WHICH THE BLAST HAPPENED AT BORIVALI!!! She was at the other end. She heard a loud noise, The train stopped, could not figure out what happened. Got out of the train. The cops were everywhere and were ushering people out of the station. She got a lift back home.

  28. PardonMyEnglish said:

    I noticed they were called “militants”, not “terrorists”. Does anybody think this is because the bombings happend in india, not the usa/western europe/israel/whatever? Or am i reading to much into their choice of words?

    You are reading too much. AP/Reuters/AFP/BBC routinely call terrorists militants/gunmen/insurgents/etc whether it is Thailand, India, Israel, US, Spain, etc. Even Osama has been labelled a “militant” (at least once). Welcome to the nightmare that is the MSM.

  29. I just got through to Bombay-based relatives – no one in her family was hurt, but one realtive cannot get home, since all train service has stopped. Her husband was killed in the blasts of 1993, so she has avoided additional heartbreak, for now.

  30. May be its too early to speculate the motivation behind these attacks but heres my 2 paisas. All the places (stations) where the blasts occured are known to be residential and commercial areas where medium to big businesses and rich people reside. Furthermore, the bombs were place in the first class compartments and not the 2nd class. Does this mean that this is a deliberate attack on the Mumbai ‘classes’ and not on the Mumbai ‘masses’. Sorry if this comes off as an insensitive comment, but I grew up in northern Mumbai suburbs and this thought just occured to me.

  31. msnbc and bloomberg are reporting that the indian government has named dawood ibrahim as a possible suspect in these blasts.

    i pray for all the victims and their families. the images are stomach churning. the scenes and stories of people helping one another show the spirit of the city in the face of such an outrage.

  32. My prayers are with all who were lost, those who are injured, those who are fighting to literally pick up the pieces and help, those who cannot reach family and friends and everyone else who is affected by this craven, calculated attack.

    I’m even praying for those responsible, since they are certainly going to HELL. What a vicious act.

  33. Mumbaikar, glad your mom is okay. prayers for the families. Hope the toll doesnt rise anymore as it is upto 135 died now.

  34. Amit,

    I think that’s probably because its easier to get a bomb onto a 1st class coach than a 2nd class one. Getting anything onto a Mumbai 2nd class coach, especially during rush hour is practically impossible.

  36. This is disgusting. Are we going to see the muslim community come out in force against this like they did with some books and movies they find objectionable? I’m guessing not. I’m begining to this Islam is a religion with a violent streak enabled by the vast majority of its adherents. Maybe breeding them out of Kasmir is the solution.

  37. I’m begining to this Islam is a religion with a violent streak enabled by the vast majority of its adherents. Maybe breeding them out of Kasmir is the solution.

    Vikram, I ache for you and everyone else who is affected by this and I am outraged as well, but if we let this incident fuel THAT kind of hatred within, then that cliche about the terrorists winning will be true. 🙁

  38. My thoughts are with everyone with family members and loved ones in Mumbai right now.

    I can’t help but also hope that this tragedy is not compounded by communal violence. We’ve seen it all too often in the aftermath of these types of terrorist attacks in India. If militants are responsible, a religious war is probably what they want. Peace.

  39. One thing I noticed. When terrible things like this happen outside of the US, the victim count tends to rise steadily as they find more. It’s that funny little thing called, accuratae reporting But on 9/11, at least the news reports I saw, first estimates were much much higher, at 20,00, then 10,000, then on the dave letterman show which aired 6 days after 9/11, letterman says “we’ve lost 5000 fellow new yorkers” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueoBp1ktcBE)… until finally they settled on a real number.

    Just something I haven’t taken notice of until now.

  40. I can’t help but also hope that this tragedy is not compounded by communal violence. We’ve seen it all too often in the aftermath of these types of terrorist attacks in India. If militants are responsible, a religious war is probably what they want. Peace.

    To be accurate- following the most recent terrorist attacks in India, there has been little if any retaliatory violaence. The Diwali blasts last year, the attack on the mosque in New Delhi, the Varanasi blasts – you did not see retaliation. Basically, India’s reputation took such a beating after Godhra in 2002, that New Delhi floods the streets with paramilitaries to keep the peace.

    And while this declining incidence of communal retaliation is welcome, what is not welcome is New Delhi’s inability to punish terrorists. By comparison, Israel may be going overboard in sending troops and tanks into Gaza for one soldier, but scores can get killed in India – and New Delhi does nothing. You have an extremity of action by one nation, and no action by another. For all the reforms of India’s business sector, it’s political sector is as broken as ever.

  41. Vikram,

    The muslim community will only act as any unfairly threatened minority would at times like this. To vilify an entire community based on the actions of a few deranged and misguided people is ridiculous. I agree that this is a difficult time for everyone and deeply empathize if the incident effected you at a personal level, but baseless invalidations are uncalled for.

  42. This is disgusting. Are we going to see the muslim community come out in force against this like they did with some books and movies they find objectionable? I’m guessing not. I’m begining to this Islam is a religion with a violent streak enabled by the vast majority of its adherents. Maybe breeding them out of Kasmir is the solution.

    Vikram; It is fanatics like you who are responsible for the kind of communal tensions that the rest of us in India have to pay a price for. Did you, for instance, react in the same way when over 1,000 muslims were systematically hunted down and killed during the Godhra riots? Or during Ayodhya? Does that mean that Hinduism has a violent streak enabled by the vast majority of its adherents? Think about it dude, and try and curb your rabid impulses in favor of some much needed rational and level headed reactions in times like these.

  43. This is disgusting. Are we going to see the muslim community come out in force against this like they did with some books and movies they find objectionable? I’m guessing not. I’m begining to this Islam is a religion with a violent streak enabled by the vast majority of its adherents. Maybe breeding them out of Kasmir is the solution.

    Vikram (36):

    Do you know any Muslim people? The “vast majority” that I know condemn such attacks and are frightened by the repurcussions. Let’s face it, the people who did the act got away with it (at least for now), but we know that innocent Muslims will be targetted for retaliation. Sort of like Sikhs after 9/11. Did you all pause teh way i did after 9/11 and have a fear about going into public places?

    Vikram, perhaps you did not realize it, but your words are frightening and divisive and in the long run will only do more harm. Please consider carefully before commenting.

  44. This just reeks of Al-Qaeda. 7/11 for India. I hope things brings down the left there.

  46. nubamountain,

    yes 1000 muslims were killed, but after they set a train of hindus on fire. hindus do not act out their grievances using violence. hindus have been systametically ethnically cleansed from Kashmir. the pandits are no longer. yet we continue to appease these people and today is the logical consequence. i’m only standing up for 800 million hindus who are told to keep quiet and not rock the boat while they live by a different civil code and are blown away on their way home from work.

    browniefromtx,

    islamic fundamentalism can only fetser if they have some sympathy among the larger community. which is the case here. when rushdie wrote a book they were in the streets by the millions. you won’t see that tomorrow.

  48. Go read those reactions from some Pakis that Adi linked too. Those are more representtative of Paki reaction.

  49. This just reeks of Al-Qaeda. 7/11 for India. I hope things brings down the left there.

    Right, just what we need. Bring the bajrang dal into power and watch them rebuild a great empire.

    Rolls eyes

  50. Vikram on July 11, 2006 01:21 PM · Direct link nubamountain, yes 1000 muslims were killed, but after they set a train of hindus on fire. hindus do not act out their grievances using violence. hindus have been systametically ethnically cleansed from Kashmir. the pandits are no longer. yet we continue to appease these people and today is the logical consequence. i’m only standing up for 800 million hindus who are told to keep quiet and not rock the boat while they live by a different civil code and are blown away on their way home from work. browniefromtx, islamic fundamentalism can only fetser if they have some sympathy among the larger community. which is the case here. when rushdie wrote a book they were in the streets by the millions. you won’t see that tomorrow.

    Seriously, people get a grip.

    In a time like this we need each other as humans. stop blaming one another and help in any way you can. God is watching this and the terrorist will surely pay double for what they have caused here