By IANS,
New Delhi : Harried people from Assam in the capital Thursday spent some anxious moments after the synchronized blasts in the state here as jammed telephone networks made it impossible for them to get through to their relatives back home.
“I have been trying to get through to my family and relatives for a long time. As the blasts took place in the morning, everybody is out. One of the blast sites (in Guwahati) is the main market and my father has to cross it on his way to office,” said Delhi University student Rashik.
His home is just behind the Fancy Bazar, where one of the bombs went off.
Rashik’s apprehensions were shared by Kasturi Nath, who works in a PR firm here.
“I have been tense since morning. I have been able to talk to relatives but not to my parents. I am just keeping my fingers crossed,” Nath told IANS.
“I am in constant touch with my friends here who have got their families in Assam if they could help in giving some news,” Nath added.
At least 30 people were killed and more than 100 injured in a string of explosions in Assam Thursday, including four in the heart of the state’s main city of Guwahati, police and eyewitnesses said.
A police spokesman said there were 12 blasts within a span of about an hour beginning 11.20 a.m. – five in Guwahati, three in Barpeta district, three in Kokrajhar district and one in Bongaigaon district, all in western Assam
Thick black smoke billowed into the sky as the blasts in Guwahati targeted busy markets like Fancy Bazar, Pan Bazar and the district courts. One blast went off a mere 100 metres from the residence of Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.
The mangled remains of cars littered Guwahati’s streets even as fire brigade personnel and rescue workers rushed in to control the flames.