At least 80 people were killed and 150 people injured in the attacks, authorities said. "I was saved by the grace of God," Dangayach told local media. "I heard [one of] the blasts nearby and do not know how I survived. I saw several people dead and the crowd running…I was unable to run and stood at my place and was saved by the grace of God," she added.
Besides children, witnesses found the human remains of a young bride, still wearing her wedding dress. The explosions that rocked Jaipur around 19.30 local time targeted a Hindu temple, a jewelry market and other popular places in the old city of Jaipur, some 260 kilometers (162 miles) outside the Indian capital, New Delhi.
Jaipur is also known as ‘Pink City’ because of the color of its monuments, but on Wednesday, May 14, the color of blood was noticed in several streets here. Sandals with blood stains and body parts seen by eyewitnesses were evidence of the near simultaneous explosions.
MOUNTING PESSIMISM
The attacks came at a time of pessimism in this city where beggars, some missing limbs, try to make a living at crowded areas such as the train station, stumbling between prosperous men wearing ties. "In India life is not important," said Nadeem Kahn, a 23-year-old rickshaw driver in an interview with BosNewsLife shortly before the attacks.
Terrorists choose Jaipur because the city is popular among European, American and Jewish tourists, ensuring international attention, Indian newspapers quoted experts as saying. Local residents and officials also expressed concerns that militants may be able to disturb the fragile religious harmony in the region, which could spark troubles for minority Christians, Muslims and the mainly Hindu population. The attacks in Jaipur were no isolated incident and underscored mounting pressure on the Indian government to increase the fight against terrorism.
MORE BLASTS
Last year attacks in the Southern Indian city of Hyderabad killed 43 people, while in 2006, some 200 people died in attacks on a train in Bombay. In 2005, 62 people died in blasts at markets in New Delhi.
Nobody claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attacks in Jaipur, but India has frequently accused Pakistan of involvement in terrorism, charges Islamabad denies. Pakistan allegedly supports Islamic militants fighting against Indian control over parts of Kashmir, the disputed Himalayan territory that was divided between the two nations in 1947.
However the Indian Home Ministry has not ruled out that a Bangladesh-based Islamic group, Harkut-ul-Jehadi Islami, was responsible for the Jaipur blasts. An investigation into the used explosives, which were delivered by cars and rickshaws, could lead to new clues, police said in a statement.
TERROR ALARM
Indian authorities meanwhile issued a terror-alarm in several cities, including in New Delhi where a BosNewsLife reporter saw several police roadblocks.
Red alerts were also given in India’s financial capital Mumbai, previously known as Bombay, and other large cities, officials said.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh condemned the blasts saying attacks against "Innocent people" must end. But with fresh alerts issued and religious groups on edge, that seemed wishful thinking.
