Times of India reporters Asseem Shaikh, Swati Shinde and Mihir Tanksale has reported on the newspaper’s site that the Pune blast toll is 9 dead and 45 wounded.
The bomb blast ripped through the city’s popular German Bakery, close to the Osho Ashram, diagonally across from the Jewish Chabad House, recced by 26/11 suspect David Coleman Headley, killing at least nine people, four of them foreigners, all women, the report says. More than 45 people were rushed to hospital with varying degrees of injury. Body parts of some of the dead were found strewn on the North Main Road and near the O Hotel, a few metres from the bakery.
The blast at 7.15 PM left a 6ftx4ft hole in the wall of the bakery when it was crowded with people. According to Union Home Secretary G K Pillai, there was an unattended packet which exploded when a waiter tried to open it.
According to reports from agencies at least eight people have been killed and 33 others injured in a powerful bomb blast in a on a restaurant in India's western city of Pune. The explosion ripped apart the German Bakery, in Koregaon Park, is a landmark eatery that is very popular with tourists. It is located close to the Osho Ashram in the city's upscale Koregaon area, usually teeming with foreigners. Though the nationalities of the dead are not known yet, reports say, at least one of the dead is a foreign national. The explosion was set of at about 7 PM (1330 GMT) when the restaurant was packed with diners.
Many among the victims live in the area, work there or are visitors, while some others are students. Pune has a large population of foreign students and the site of the blast the German Bakery is a favourite hangout for foreigners and locals alike. So the explosion might have been planned with the purpose of killing foreigners along with locals and attracting international attention.
The blast, which Maharashtra state officials described as a bomb blast is the first major attack India has faced since the Mumbai bombings by terrorists in 2008.
"We heard a big noise and we all rushed out. The impact was so much that there were tiny body parts everywhere," Vinod Dhale, who works at the restaurant, told Reuters news agency.
According to senior police official Rajendra Sonawane ‘there was an abandoned bag which seems to have contained some IED (improvised explosive device)’.
Also, according to highly placed sources in intelligence agencies that told CNN-IBN the Indian Mujahideen, the militant group blamed for a series of bomb blasts in major Indian cities in 2008, is suspected for the Pune blast on Saturday. The evidence collected from the blast site has the ‘trademark’ of the Indian Mujahideen, reports say, and the group is believed to have built a strong network across Maharashtra and they are believed to have a module in Pune.
Indian Mujahideen was blamed for the serial blasts that killed 13 people in Varanasi, Faizabad and Lucknow on November 23, 2007. It is also blamed for the serial bombing in Jaipur that killed 63 people in May 2008. The attack in Ahmedabad that killed 46 people in July 26, 2008 was also the handiwork of the Indian Mujahideen.
pixelpitz (on 26 Nov 08, 2.14AM PST) says, "I thought I'd do video updates and post them online, but after doing one (from my hotel room overlooking the incredibly busy main drag in Colaba in Mumbai), I decided I hate listening to myself so I didn't do any more after this. Plus, I look like hell."
World leaders, including George W Bush, Barack Obama and Gordon Brown, have condemned the terrorist attacks by militant gunmen in Mumbai, India (formerly known as Bombay), in which more than 125 people have been killed and several hundreds were wounded.
As live more TV News coverage comes in, even after 43 hours since terrorists took hostages and started firing and grenade attacks, the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai (Bombay), still continues under intensified terrorists gun battle. Grenades were seen exploding near the entrance.
Terrorists have carried out a series of coordinated attacks across the city of Mumbai, killing atleast 125 people and injuring more than 900 as reports said at 9.PM (Indian Time) on 27 Nov 2008. The attack is targeted against westerners, mainly the Americans and the British.
Terrorists have carried out a series of coordinated attacks across the city of Mumbai at 10 places, killing at least 125 people and injuring over 900 people as per live TV reports on NDTV, and reports from the blast sites and on-site live interviews by Burkha Dutt. The picture shows firemen evacuating guests from the Taj Hotel, Mumbai, India.
Terrorists in a police vehicle are shooting at people and police personnel, while they were trying to escape. The driver was taken hostage and made to drive with a gun pointed at his head. The TV screen shot was uploaded on flickr.com by Dileepa Prabhakar on 27 Nov 08, 7.23AM PST.
This is live video for those who do not have access to live news on the attack by terrorists at seven locations, including The Taj Mahal and the Oberoi Hotels.
NOTES ADDED BY THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR TERROR STRIKES AGAIN : Hotel Taj Mahal, Mumbai being burnt due to bombings and firings on the late Wednesday night of 26th November.
Picture courtesy : NDTV INDIA.
Terror Attack on Mumbai, India, yet again. Multiple blasts at five star hotels and other crucial places have been going on throughout the night. These crucial places are under seige.
A massive fire broke out on the upper portion of the heritage building of the luxury Hotel Taj at Colaba in Mumbai during an encounter between security forces and terrorists holed up inside.
The fire, which now seems to be spreading, was preceded by two explosions and followed by intermittent gunfire.
Thick plumes of smoke billowed out of the dome of the hotel located opposite the British colonial era monument of Churchgate of India.
Terrorists targeted luxury hotels, a popular tourist attraction, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station and Leopold's restaurant, in at least seven attacks in Mumbai, India', killing over 80 people and wounding about 260, agencies reported on Thursday. The gunmen were selectively targeting Britons and Americans, the police claimed. They were holding hostages at two luxury hotels, the Taj Mahal and Oberoi hotels. The Taj Mahal later burst in flames and several explosions were heard. The gunmen also attacked the south Mumbai police headquarters.
Several European lawmakers were among those still barricaded inside the Taj Mahal hotel. A British restaurant-goer at the Oberoi told Sky News television that the attackers were singling out Britons and Americans.
"They were talking about British and Americans specifically. There was an Italian guy, who, you know, they said: 'Where are you from?" and he said he's from Italy and they said 'fine' and they left him alone. And I thought: 'Fine, they're going to shoot me if they ask me anything - and thank God they didn't," he said.
"I was in the main lobby and there was all of a sudden a lot of firing outside," said Sajjad Karim, who was in the delegation of European lawmakers visiting Mumbai ahead of a forthcoming EU-India summit. "And all of a sudden another gunman appeared in front of us, carrying machine gun-type weapons. And he just started firing at us... I just turned and ran in the opposite direction," he told The Associated Press in a mobile phone call.
According to the media, the Deccan Mujahideen, has claimed responsibility for the attacks. PTI reported on Thursday the group sent emails to several media outlets about the attacks.
