Blasts kill at least 58, injure dozens as people shop in markets for festival

Many militant groups opposed the government as well as a peace process.
NEW DELHI, India (AP) -- Near-simultaneous explosions rocked the Indian capital Saturday evening, tearing through a bus and two markets crowded with people shopping for gifts for a Hindu festival. At least 58 people were killed and dozens wounded in the blasts. The government blamed terrorists.
Police declared a state of emergency and closed all city markets. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged calm while denouncing the apparently coordinated bombings, which did not prevent an unprecedented India-Pakistan agreement to open the Kashmir border to facilitate aid for survivors of the region's devastating Oct. 8 earthquake.
"These are dastardly acts of terrorism," Singh said in a brief televised statement. "We shall defeat their nefarious designs and will not allow them to succeed. We are resolute in our commitment to fighting terrorism in all forms."
Asked who was responsible, he would only say "there are several clues."
The Indian government faces opposition from dozens of militant groups -- particularly Kashmiri separatists, some of whom also oppose the peace process between Pakistan and India.
Well-planned attacks
The first explosion hit at 5:45 p.m. in New Delhi's main Paharganj market, leaving behind bloodstained streets and mangled stalls of wood and twisted metal. Within minutes came an explosion at the popular Sarojini Nagar market and the bus blast in the Govindpuri neighborhood. Police said at least 60 people were wounded in the first blast and dozens in the other two.
The attacks targeted the many people shopping just days before the festival of Diwali, a major Hindu holiday during which families exchange gifts, light candles and celebrate with fireworks. The markets where the blasts occurred often sell fireworks that are elaborate and potentially dangerous.
"When I got up, there were people everywhere; they were bleeding and screaming," Anil Gupta said about 45 minutes after the blast as he sifted through the wreckage of his jewelry store. Scattered around his feet were bracelets, necklaces and earrings.
The explosions erupted just hours after India and Pakistan began talks on opening the heavily militarized border in disputed Kashmir to help get food, shelter and medical aid to victims of the Himalayan region's quake, which killed about 80,000 people, most in Pakistan.
Opening the border is extremely sensitive for India because of a 16-year insurgency by Islamic militants in Kashmir who seek to make the Indian portion independent or unite it with Pakistan.
But despite the blasts, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said early today that the two sides agreed to open the frontier at five spots beginning Nov. 7. Shipments of aid supplies will be allowed to cross at those points, and Kashmiri civilians will be allowed to cross on foot, with priority given to those with families divided by the border.
Other officials speak out
Pakistan condemned the multiple attacks in New Delhi.
"The attack in a crowded market place is a criminal act of terrorism. The people and government of Pakistan are shocked at this barbaric act and express deep sympathy with the families of the victims," a Foreign Ministry statement said.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called the blasts "yet another example of terrorists' cynical and callous disregard for human life. On behalf of the British government, I would like to offer the people of India my support and deepest sympathy."
Home Minister Shivraj Patil urged people to stay off the streets. "I appeal to you. Please disperse from the markets and go back to your families," he said in a televised address.
Patil said 39 people were killed in Sarojini Nagar, a popular shopping district in southern part of the capital filled with everything from knockoff designer clothing to kitchen crockery. Fire department official Sham Lal said at least 16 people died in the Paharganj market blast, and three were killed on the bus.
Babu Lal Khandelwal, a shop owner in the Paharganj market, in an area near the train station packed with small stores and inexpensive hotels often filled with foreign backpackers, said the blast knocked him to the ground.
"There was black smoke everywhere," he said. "When the smoke was cleared and I could see, there were people bloody and people lying in the street."
The blast badly damaged a row of shops, including Khandelwal's clothing store. About an hour later, investigators stood around a small, debris-filled crater about 10 feet from the string of shops.
All around, broken glass and other wreckage littered the street, shop signs were ripped and twisted and clothes -- mostly T-shirts and scarves -- hung from low-strung power lines.
A witness to the second blast, Satinder Lal Sharma, said some boys warned him about an unclaimed bag near a tree and he "started shouting 'Run! Run!"' just before the explosion. It destroyed several shops and left the tree charred and without leaves.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.