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. it has been bugging me for a while now how the media loves to surrender an entire day on the calender over to terrorists. 9/11, 7/7, 7/11, 3/11.

    on a total, total tangent, have you noticed how this is leading the American convention of Month/Date to creep into the discourse of places where the standard is Date/Month.

  2. Something like this was bound to happen, it was just a matter of time. To quote Vikram Sood “In combatting terror you need to be lucky 100% of the time, As a terrorist you only need to be lucky once”. India would have long gone after terrorist camps in Pakistan, However india possesses a disadvantage as all Pakistan has to do is dangle the nuclear damocles sword over India’s head. Hamas doesn’t even have a military or Israel would be in India’s shoes.

    Terrorism is evil. Killing innocent people is evil, We’ve heard this over and over however i wish the Government of India took pains like the USA to improve its intelligence assets by aggressive recruiting of foreign born Indians and improve its intelligence assets. Targeted assassination, extraordinary rendition should be the tools that India should cultivate. God knows, if there is a justification for these policies India has strong qualifications. No doubt if there was a ‘Dawood hand’ in this in any way, he has to be eliminated , pure and simple. India has had plenty of opportunity and motive when Dawood was walking through the streets of Sharjah with his aviators and gold chains and the women on his arm. Thousands of Indians have seen Dawood in dubai, How hard would it been to place a couple of agents and blow Dawood’s and Tiger Memons brains out when he was peacocking in Dubai’s nightclubs. For God’s sake that man made a media statement when he walked out of a theatre in Dubai after watching the bollywood movie ‘Company’. Instead the CBI has to go through the formalities of ‘diplomacy’ and got rejected and stood up, WHY?? because India refused to extradite an Indian Driver and his arabian Princess wife when asked to do so (both were of legal age and had eloped). I’ve grown up in the middle east and this was the most persistent rumor for the feet dragging in Tiger’s case.

    If we had RAW assassinate Dawood, what would the UAE do ? attack us ?????? The government treats Indians as a necessary evil anyhow!!

    India has to be aggressive, but in the right way as the option of crossing over to Azad Kashmir could spell death for thousands of Indians anyhow because of a nuclear strike. It is a fact that Musharraf had his finger on the trigger during his grand dreams of placing Pakistans flag in Srinagar.

    I’m not placing the blame for the attack on Pakistan, But India’s intelligence though improving need to be a little more aggressive with regards to “India’s most Wanted”.

  3. It is 12:30 am here in Bangalore, but I cannot go to bed because there is a man outside the window yelling on the phone. He has been trying to reach his wife and children in Mumbai since 7 pm, and is increasingly getting desperate. I have been listening to him for the past 20 minutes, and his tone switches between angry, anxious and hopeless as he talks to his other relatives and friends. His voice breaks often. I don’t know what to do – he is obviously alone, but the last thing he needs right now is for a stranger to approach him with “everything will be alright”. It breaks my heart.

  4. Very sad. The MumbaiHelpsblog comments section is sort of heartbreaking and strengthening (? is that the right word) at the same time. Hard to read the posted messages, proud of the bloggers who are staying calm and trying to help.

    I’m glad to hear Manish is okay.

    I’ve found Bill Roggio’s writing at counterterrorism blog to be very informative, as usual. Dawood Ibrahim is the chief suspect at this time? But I don’t know how one can know so quickly, is it because of the previous bombings?

    Take care everybody, and my prayers and thoughts are with Mumbaikers and with India today.

  5. I don’t know what to do – he is obviously alone, but the last thing he needs right now is for a stranger to approach him with “everything will be alright”. It breaks my heart.

    Ask him is relatives name and the cross reference it with the list on the Mumbai Help Blog. It is something at least. He might not be internet savvy enough to know where to look.

  6. “on a total, total tangent, have you noticed how this is leading the American convention of Month/Date to creep into the discourse of places where the standard is Date/Month.”

    interesting observation.. eleven-nine just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

  9. “Here’s a good view of the Pakistani reaction

    Jesus Christ, that’s sick. When there’s a pakistani attack, Indians don’t even talk about it. When there’s an Indian attack, pakistanis spit on our corpses.

    I hope to god that India teaches pakistan a lesson after this one. It has simply gone too far. We could completely sack their whole country if we wanted to. And even if the government doesn’t take action, pakistan will burn. It has to happen at some point. And when they do I’ll celebrate.

    Furthermore, I simply don’t get this:

    http://ia.rediff.com/news/2006/jul/11look.htm

  10. 103: I would go to your neighbor and see if he just wants someone to be with him. If you’re intruding, all you have to do is leave.

  11. There would be no communal violence in the aftermath of such incidents if the indian government was aggressive about combating terrorism and punishing the terrorists. The violence is the result of people’s frustration at the govt’s impotence. So there is some sense in what Vikram says about the role of the govt. Everytime i see israel in action, even Bush, I wish to god we had a govt with even half the resolve and guts. Is life in india so cheap, is our govt so inured to the death of its citizens that it feels nothing ? Can it do nothing other than making half-hearted noises at pakistan and bangladesh, lodging tame protests.

    The govts reluctance to be aggressive about this issue is often interpreted as its reluctance to upset the muslim votebank. And I think there is some truth in this. Its all very well to be politically correct, but it is stupid to not see things for what they are. Definitely there are at least a few muslims in india actively supporting these islamic terrorists otherwise they would not be able to operate. The govt should not be afraid to punish them, because when it fails to do so the idea of a muslim conspiracy grows. So now instead of a few guilty traitors being punished, the entire community comes under suspicion.

    What the rest of the muslims in india think, where their sympathies and loyalties lie – with the indian people or with the terrorists – honestly, i do not know. And i think that is a doubt that troubles many indians. But you cannot punish people for their thoughts or feelings, you can only punish people who have actually committed crimes – its important to remember the distinction.

  12. quote: “”Here’s a good view of the Pakistani reaction

    what do you expect from a forum of a site thats called pakistani defence forum? its bound to attract weirdos.

  13. Um guys, I suggest you stay away from the Pakistanidefenceforum site. I came across the site for the first time today, and it’s filled with Pro-Pakistani people who basically have no lives and are content bashing Indians. Please stay away from that site as it will only initiate more hateful comments here.

  15. Great – post links to a forum of Indian hating Pakistani bigot psychos. That will really keep tempers down.

  17. Some stretches of the Western Railway are already operational (These were not affected by the blasts though). As somebody said earlier, the whole city will be back to its feet by tomorrow morning. Salaam Bombay !!!

  19. Is India ever going to take proactive steps to ensure this doesnt happen again? Is there a difference between tolerance and cowardice? How many times has India’s patience ‘almost run out’? How many more innocent lives will it take to make concrete efforts to curb Paki terrorism? Is this going to be yet another “India tells Pakistan it needs to do more to check terrorism. GROW SOME BALLS INDIA, OR HERE TAKE MINE.

  20. Seems we have have an imposter… None of the posts under the handle Vikram made earlier were made by me. Admins please check the ip address of the phony Vikram (and grammar). This is my first post in this thread.

    Thanks

  21. First heavy rains, then riots and now blasts.

    Mumbai is going thru a terrible phase currently. Hope it ends soon.

    M. Nam

  22. More confirmation of the LeT denial of involvement in the Mumbai blasts. But it seems quite likely they were responsible for the grenade attack in Kashmir that also happened today (they are not denying it; the papers are reporting their responsibility in categorical terms).

    There are lots of other Kashmiri militant/terrorist groups besides Lashkar-e-Toiba: BBC (April 2005)

  23. So, you are the only Vikram in the entire world? Funny.

    The blasts are horrific. While we are in the midst of widespread jumping-to-conclusions, can someone quickly remind me what the motivations were behind the 93 blasts. I know Dawood and the underworld were involved, but I haven’t understood why?

  25. As a counter-balance to the comment above, Musharraf strongly condemns the attacks (in the Hindu).

    But tellingly, says nothing about the blasts in Srinagar. While that news has been drowned out by the Mumbai blasts, those attacks were also well coordinated (5 attacks in different areas of the city, all targeting innocent tourists).

  28. “Seems we have have an imposter… None of the posts under the handle Vikram made earlier were made by me. Admins please check the ip address of the phony Vikram (and grammar). This is my first post in this thread.”

    Hmmmm. Or.. in some crazy scheme to subvert society, another set of parents could have named their child vikram too!

  30. can someone quickly remind me what the motivations were behind the 93 blasts. I know Dawood and the underworld were involved, but I haven’t understood why?

    That was in retaliation to the Mumbai riots of 1992 (believed to be an organized massacre of muslims by shiv-sena goondas). The (mostly muslim) Bombay underworld is supposed to have carried out the blasts.

  31. There is a reason we keep erasing the link to the fringe Pakistani site people. What good does it do?

  32. Because she implies a link between the Mumbai blasts and Kashmir. The US has never been this forthcoming before

    I don’t see that. The only link she implied is that they happened the same day and were carried out by terrorists. Forthcoming? I’d say somewhat obvious.

  33. The blasts are horrific. While we are in the midst of widespread jumping-to-conclusions, can someone quickly remind me what the motivations were behind the 93 blasts. I know Dawood and the underworld were involved, but I haven’t understood why?

    It was considered revenge for a series of anti-Muslim riots that took place in Bombay earlier that same year – and the police did nothing to stop the rioters. These gangs felt that if the police would do nothing, they would mete out their own brand of justice.

  34. Disgusting. Condolences to all the victims’ families.

    Stupid jihadis have to ruin it for all of us. I’m a pissed off Paki today alright.

  35. This broke my heart. I’m not Desi, but none the less I’m still very sad about these events. Will Sipa Mutiny be collecting money for the families of the victims? I hate to spew anger here…but such cowards to do such an thing…cowards!

  36. Joaquinochoa, It’s an interesting idea… At the least, we will put up links to organizations where you can donate to help the victims. Also keep an eye on Mumbai help blog over the next few days.

  37. Seems like the board has been disabled. I was just about to go on there and blast these zealots. Its a defense board, so I wouldn’t be surprised that it attracts the loonies. But taking it as the average Pakistani reaction is just as looney, believe me.

  38. Thanks, Tre

    OTOH – Belwo is an excerpt from an article penned by Prof.Sumit Ganguly for the latest edition, July – August 2006, of Foreign Affairs magazine.

    “Accordingly, the Pakistani government continues to support the insurgents, although more subtly than before. But what the Musharraf regime and its more intransigent Islamist allies fail to recognize is that Indian patience with Pakistani-sponsored violence in Kashmir and elsewhere in India is nearly at an end. Although largely ignored by the U.S. media, bombings during the festival for the Hindu holiday of Diwali in New Delhi last November, in which Pakistani-based groups were implicated, almost precipitated another major crisis, which was averted only by the Indian leadership’s restraint. But it is far from clear whether such forbearance could survive another attack. Furthermore, in contrast to the 2001-2 crisis, when the Indian military lacked viable plans for responding to a Pakistani-based terrorist attack, the Indian army is now well prepared to undertake swift and decisive action by retaliating against targets in Pakistan at times and places of its own choosing. Unfortunately, the Pakistani leadership appears to be oblivious to India’s growing frustration. Consequently, although another Indo-Pakistani war is not likely, it remains possible.”

  39. My thoughts and prayers are with everyone who has been affected by this inhuman tragedy. I hope all related kith and kin and friends of everybody here are safe.

  40. Update on man-outside-window (#103 above):

    His wife is fine. He burst into tears when she finally called.

    It makes a rather poignant story, really. This guy (Bhushan) is a driver from Mumbai, and came to Bangalore only this weekend. He has a cellphone but his wife does not, so his only hope was calling the neighbours (who had no information). Turns out his wife could not get home because of lack of transport, and is spending the night at a temporary shelter. She finally borrowed a cellphone and called him.

    On a tangent, the technology revolution in India has really changed lives. Even 5 years ago, sure as hell Bhushan would still be waiting for news.

  41. My prayers are with everyone who has family / friends in Mumbai.

    Going back to comment #19, it has been bugging me for a while now how the media loves to surrender an entire day on the calender over to terrorists. 9/11, 7/7, 7/11, 3/11. Are they going to keep doing this until each country gets a terrorist day of their own?

    Although I cannot confirm this, apparently the US Military uses the dd/mm/yy format. Someone should be able to corrobarate this.

  45. On a tangent, the technology revolution in India has really changed lives. Even 5 years ago, sure as hell Bhushan would still be waiting for news.

    True, but again you don’t get phone connections when all the relatives/friends (outside Mumbai) of atleast a million folks in Mumbai try to get in touch.. Terrorist attacks are not going to end sooner. So people in ‘high risk cities’ should have a protocol of calling just one person outside Mumbai and letting him/her know he/she is safe and ask that contact to let others know.. That’ll avoid a lot of congestion in the network..

  48. This has been a really harrowing day for me. I lived in Mahim for 14 years and have significant family that still lives there in and around my fathers house. Many of whom had not come home yet as of the last time my father was able to get thru. A lot of family members do not have cell phones. My mothers immediate side of the family in Bandra are all fine. I’m just beside myself. A year ago this week I went thru this same drill with family in London. Gosh what is going on.

  49. This feels like deja vu, reminiscient of 9/11 in an eerie way. Even though I don’t know anyone in Bombay and have never been there, I feel completely connected to this event. My prayers are with you. I wish there was something I could do to help.

  50. I hope all the people who died rest in peace.and all the people who are injure may god and goddess heal their pain and their families pain.i hope there is no communal violence.why things like this happen.it make me so angry and upset.i wish i can do something for my fellow indians.there are lot of people who gave their life for india,so we can live in peace.not that we fight each other. Jai Shree Sai Baba Jai Shree Krishna