Three separate bomb blasts ripped through the holy Hindu city of Varanasi in India Tuesday evening, killing at least 21 people and wounding 62 at a crowded temple and a railway station.
Police also found two other bombs near the city's main cremation site on the banks of the Ganges River, officials said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.
The authorities put states across India on high alert, fearing the attacks in Hinduism's holiest city could spark communal violence.
The first blast tore into the Hanuman Temple temple -- one of the oldest as well as one of the most beloved shrines in the ancient city -- when it was packed with faithful carrying out their weekly Tuesday night worship.
Witnesses said the powerful explosion set off a panicked crush as people scrambled for safety.
"The blast was so powerful that it could be heard across the town, and we have moved five or six badly-burned dead," an eyewitness said.
"Everyone was running. There were corpses lying around," another witness told Aaj Tak news channel. "There was almost a stampede."
Witnesses said a marriage ceremony was taking place at the temple when the blast occurred. They said several students due to appear for exams were also at the temple to offer prayers.
Rescue workers struggled in Varanasi's narrow lanes to cart out the victims, most of whom had injuries on their legs and on the lower parts of their bodies, people on the scene said.
Within 10 minutes, two more bombs went off in the city's main railway station, said Kamlesh Pathak, the city's deputy administrator.
One went off outside the station master's office while the other exploded inside a train carriage jammed with travelers preparing to go on holiday ahead of the annual Hindu festival of color, Holi, next week.
"The third blast occurred inside a crowded coach of the Shiv Ganga Express minutes before it was to set off for New Delhi," Pathak said.
"Ten people have died at the (Hanuman) temple and 11 more at the railway station. Eight of them are women," he said.
"We are counting the bodies as they are coming in... There is confusion everywhere and all I can say of now is that three of the eight (females) are young girls," the official told AFP by telephone.
Around 62 people were injured, some in critical condition, officials said.
So far none of the various Maoist, Islamic separatist or tribal guerrilla groups operating in India have claimed responsibility for the blasts.
Internal Minister Shivraj Patil said the federal government had put all states across the vast country on alert and sealed off Varanasi.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged the nation to remain calm.
"The prime minister has appealed for maintaining peace and calm. He is constantly monitoring the situation. He condemned the blasts," a spokesman from his office told AFP.
Home Secretary V.K. Duggal told reporters in New Delhi the modus operandi of the Varanasi blasts was similar to serial explosions that shook New Delhi just ahead of the Hindu holy festival of Diwali last October, killing 66 people.
The blasts in Varanasi took place within 10 minutes of each other, which was also the pattern when two crowded markets and a bus were targeted by bombers in New Delhi.
The Indian government was ready to send National Security Guard commandos to the city, if necessary, Duggal said.
Uttar Pradesh state, in which Varanasi is situated, was put on extra high alert and security was beefed up in the holy towns of Ayodhya, Faizabad and Mathura, officials said.
Attacks on religious sites in India are not unknown.
In 1992, more than 2,000 people were killed in religious riots after Hindu mobs razed a 16th-century mosque in the holy city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.
The mosque was built on a disputed site, which Hindus claim as the site of an ancient temple to the god Ram.
In 2002, around 30 people were killed when militants attacked Akshardham Hindu temple in western Gujarat state.
(Chinadaily.com via agencies March 8, 2006)
