Serial blasts in Ahmedabad, 29 killed

At least 15 of the deaths in Ahmedabad were in blasts which took place in the government-run Civil Hospital and another three in municipal-run LG Hospital. All the blasts, except the one at Sarkhej, took place in the crowded eastern neighbourhoods of the city, within a radius of 5 km. The blasts happened at Sarkhej, Maninagar, Bapunagar, Thakkarbapanagar, Naroda, Raipur Narol and Sarangpur. The Civil Hospital and LG Hospital campuses were the last to get bombed, about 40 minutes after the first round of blasts. Most of the bombs were planted behind bicycles in tiffins contained in blue polythene bags while the bombs in the hospitals were placed in automobiles. The bombs were packed with timer devices and microprocessors. Preliminary reports suggest ammonium nitrate was used in the bombs. Eyewitnesses said multiple bombs were planted within a short range, which went off within an interval of a few seconds. The idea was to attract people to the site with the first blast and then explode the other with more devastating effect. "One bomb went off from a bag on one cycle carrier and as people collected, another one went off within 15-20 seconds on another cycle carrier", said Bhushan Bhatt, a municipal corporator. One of the bombs went off near a bus in a Hindu pocket of the otherwise Muslim-dominated Sarkhej ripping one side of the bus completely. The busy diamond market in Bapunagar here was also made a target. At Maninagar, the bombs were planted in the busy vegetable market and bus stops. Over 30 feared dead in Ahmedabad blast Terrorists want to create communal divide: Prithvi Raj Chauhan Advani reacts to Ahmedabad blasts Communally sensitive Sarkhej targeted Two explosions were heard: Witness Shivraj Patil refuses to play blame game Marked sites of Ahmedabad blasts Ahmedabad Police assures to prevent unrest