M A I N   N E W S

Sixteen killed in Srinagar blast
Tribune News Service and PTI

SRINAGAR, Jan 3 — A powerful explosion rocked Srinagar killing at least 16 persons, including 13 civilians and three security personnel, and injuring over 30 others in a vegetable market at Baghi Nand Singh opposite Tattoo Ground near Batamaloo general bus stand today.

Ten persons, two of them security-men, died on the spot, an official spokesman said.

The injured were rushed to a hospital where six persons, including two more security personnel, were declared brought dead, raising number of those killed in the explosion to 16, the spokesman said.

He said the casualty figure was likely to go up as the condition of most of the injured was stated to be “critical”.

The spokesman said six paramilitary personnel were among 20 injured in the explosion, but hospital and security sources put the number of injured at 38.

Thirteen persons, who received minor injuries in the explosion, were discharged after first aid, while the remaining were undergoing treatment in different hospitals.

A police spokesman confirming the death of 14 persons said “the explosive device was planted in a hand cart and probably detonated through a timer-device”.

The four securitymen killed were identified as S.S. Tomia and S. Bariya of the Special Security Branch and Delip and Basu Dass of the Border Security Force, he said.

Official sources said security forces fired several rounds in self-defence immediately after the blast which caused panic in the whole area as shopkeepers and customers rushed to safer places leaving the dead and seriously injured behind.

The blast was so powerful that it created a crater and damaged a number of shops, the sources said, adding security forces immediately sealed the entire area and launched a search to nab the culprits.

No militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the blast.

The Minister for Urban Development, Mr Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah and the Minister for Works, Mr Ali Mohammad Sagar, have expressed shock over the killing of several innocent people in the blast. An official spokesman said the ministers in separate messages described the militants’ act as inhuman and barbaric. They expressed their sympathies with the bereaved families and prayed for the early recovery of the injured.

The Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Mr Khursheed Ahmed Ganai, visited the Bone and Joints Hospital, Burzulla, to enquire about the health of the injured. He announced a relief of Rs 1000 each for injured persons.