Two blasts in the crowded Dilsukhnagar area of Hyderabad soon after 7 PM left at least 12 dead, with the unofficial toll already well-past 20, and the toll of those injured, which included foreigners, is being put at close to 80 at least, and is bound to be revised with time.
High alert was declared in Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anurag Sharma confirmed that there were two blasts and that patrolling across the twin cities had been increased. It is suspected that the bombs which were placed in tiffin boxes atop cycles were triggered by cellphones. One bomb went off at 7.01 pm and the second at 7.06 pm.
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The injured were rushed to the nearby hospitals in nearrby Kothapet area —Kamala Nursing Home, Osmania Hospital, Yashoda Hospital, Kamineni Hospital.
Quick Reaction Teams reached the spot. Several Bloody bodies lay strewn on the roads as shocked citizens attempted to hurry home. The blasts were so powerful that parts of the road caved in.
A Sai Baba temple is in the vicinity where the blasts took place. Today being a Thursday, many of those injured in the blasts were devotees of Sai Baba who had gone to the temple to pay their respects.
One blast took place close to the Venkatadri theatre and Anand Tiffin centre. There is another theatre, Konark nearby. A second blast took place on a footover bridge near the 107 bus stop in Dilsukhnagar. The bombs were placed on carriers on cycles. The impact of the blast was such that it was heard even a kilometre away. The area has several ladies corner fancy shops, fruit sellers in the area. Bikes which blew up in the blasts littered the road.
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Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and home minister Sabitha Indra Reddy were among those who reached the spot and examined the scene. Bomb squads reached Dilsukhnagar and examined the spot for clues.
Complete chaos reigned in the area as police, bomb squads and ambulance teams milled around the area trying to take the injured to the hospital. Both the blasts took place within 150 metres of each other. The twin blasts at Gokul Chat bhandar and Lumbini Park in 2008 which left 42 dead were similar in nature.
One man who was injured in the blast, an RTC conductor, said he heard a loud explosion and fell. Bleeding profusely in the head and limbs, he said he was standing near the tiffin centre when the blast happened. Blood and flesh lay scattered all around the Anand Tiffin centre.
Hyderabad Mayor Mohd Majid Hussain and GHMC Commissioner M T Krishna Babu also visited the spot. Majid Hussain announced an ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh for all those killed and condemned the cowardly act. He said innocents who were enjoying their evening snacks at Anand Tiffin Centre and students who hang out near the spot after their classes were targeted.
