Blast outside a temple in Varanasi, many injured

CNN-IBN
Posted on Dec 07, 2010 at 18:53 | Updated Dec 07, 2010 at 19:50

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Varanasi: A blast has taken place outside a temple in Shitla Ghat in Varanasi. Many people are reported to have been injured in the blast that took place near a temple on Tuesday evening.

According to preliminary reports about 20 people including five or six foreign tourists have been injured in the blast.

However, till now there are no reports of any deaths. The injured have been taken to the district hospital in Varanasi. Some of those injured have been taken to the Banaras Hindu University Hospital also.

Officials said that seven to eight people were injured in the blast but the numbers increased because a railing at the ghat broke leading to a small stampede. About 15 people were injured in the stampede.

Senior police officials said that a thorough investigation would reveal the exact nature of the blast.

"We take this explosion as a challenge. We are investigating into the nature of the blast and will give details after the investigations by the teams present on the spot," said Uttar Pradesh ADGP Brij Lal.

Lal added that the explosive material was kept on the stairs leading to ghat.

Prem Prakash, DIG (Varanasi), told CNN-IBN that the blast was of low intensity. He said that it was not a cylinder blast, but the nature of explosives used was still unknown. He also added that have been no reports of any one being killed in the blast.

Union Home Ministry Secretary (Internal Security) UK Bansal said that a high alert has been sounded in all the major cities.

"It is indeed a medium intensity blast. The UP DGP on his way to Varanasi. There have been seven to nine people who have been injured. But there are no fatalities. High alert has been sounded in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The country was on alert a day after the anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition. We are not ruling out any possibility. We are not ruling out this to be an act of terror. Once the investigations are done, a confirmation may be given. There is no reason to panic. It will be handled in a professional manner," said Bansal.

The blast took place at around 6:35 PM just five minutes after the Ganga Aarti.

However, there is still no confirmation if the blast is a terror attack.

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