Dozens Killed By Bomb Blasts in Indian City

Three bomb blasts just minutes apart killed 38 people and injured more than 70 in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad last night.

One exploded at a street-side food stall killing 28 while two others detonated at the Lumbini amusement park during an open-air laser show packed with families, killing at least 10 people.

Three other devices were found across the city - including two in cinemas - and diffused without causing any injuries. The blasts occurred within 10 minutes of each other at around 7.40pm local time.

PK Verghese, security manager at the laser show, said: 'We heard the blast and people started running out past us. Many of them had blood streaming off them. It was complete chaos. We had to remove the security barriers so people could get out.'

The city's chief police commissionar, Balwinder Singh, said several bodies, taken to the city's main hospital, were missing limbs or decapitated and the number of dead was still being counted last night.

Although Hyderabad, a city of seven million people where 40 per cent of the population is Muslim, has been affected by sectarian violence in the past, locals said the locations bombed last night were popular with both Hindus and Muslims.

In May, a bomb at an historic Hyderabad mosque killed 11 people. Another five died in clashes after that blast between security forces and Muslim protesters angered by what they said was a lack of police protection.