Five killed, 22 hurt as blast rips apart tourist bus in Kashmir

Srinagar, July 29 (UNI) At least five people, including four tourists from Gujarat, were killed while about 22 others wounded when a powerful explosion ripped apart a bus near the famed Mughal Gardens at Shalimar on the city outskirts today, police said.

Among the dead were four women. While three women were from Gujarat, a Kashmiri girl was also killed in the explosion.

The four deceased from Gujarat have been identified as Moosa Bhai, Amina Bibi, Rabia and Razia Bano. The dead Kashmiri girl has been identified as Nusrat Jan Malla, a resident of Seki Dafur in Safa Kadal-Nawa Kadal area of downtown Srinagar.

Some of the members of the group from Gujarat had come to Kashmir on the invitation of Nusrat Jan's family, the reason she was in the bus with the tourists.

The tourists had just arrived at Shalimar Gardens after paying obeisance at Kashmir's most revered and historic shrine Hazratbal, hosuing the holy relic of the Prophet Mohammad, when the explosion occurred at 1540 hrs this afternoon.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, his predecessor Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami and others have expressed shock and grief over the incident.

Mr Azad said the cause of the explosion was being ascertained.

While police said the explosion was caused by a snag in the compressor of the air-conditioned bus, forensic experts believed that the blast could have been triggered by the detonation of explosive material.

The forensic experts said the injuries seemed so grave that these could not have been caused by the explosion in the air-conditioning system of the bus.

However, a clear picture about the blast was yet to emerge. Some TV channels claimed it was a grenade attack on tourists by militants. A forensic sciences laboratory (FSL) team was on the spot to ascertain the nature of the blast.

Police initially said the compressor of the air-conditioned tourist bus bearing registration number, GJ23T-9977, exploded near the Shalimar Mughal Gardens, about 15 km from here, this afternoon.

They said at least five people were killed and about 22 others wounded in the explosion.

The injured were rushed to various hospitals in the city. While ten wounded have been admitted to the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura, five in Sri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital and five to the Police Hospital here.

''Some of us had just come down from the bus and were going inside the Shalimar Gardens when the explosion took place. The sound was deafening. As we rushed toward the bus to see the condition inside, we were shocked....,'' said Altaf Ahmed of Gujarat.

UNI