MUMBAI TRAIN BLASTS

Seven serial blasts have rocked commuter trains today evening at rush hour in Mumbai. I am watching the horrible stories and scenes in CNN. 174 deaths and close to 400 wounded are reported so far and the figures are rising constantly. Another bomb was found and was defused instantly.

Heavy downpours are making the rescue works difficult. A militant Islami group based in Pakistan (Lashkar-e-Toiba) is being suspected. Indian Home Minister says there were intelligence information about the blasts but the security forces were not sure about the time and place.

The news updates can be found in numerous blogs:

* Gateway Pundit has lots of pictures.

* Gaurav Sabnis at Vantage Point has the timeline of events.

* Metroblogging Mumbai has first person accounts of the blasts.

* Pajamas Media has a round-up of the blog coverages.

* Indian blogger Varnam has more roundups of reactions.

* The Mumbai Help blog has resources, updates and tips how you can help.

* Journalist Amit Varma of India Uncut has many updates and links.

* Deep reports Maharashtra CM announces Rs. 1 lakh for the ones who have died (via NDTV).

* Counterterrorism blog has some indepth analysis.

* Dina Mehta reports that telephone lines were jammed - and she was lucky to be able use SkypeOut to make calls to family.

* Desicritics has list of helplines and useful contact information.

* Hot Air and Michelle Malkin have more updates and roundups.

* More views and updates with Ultrabrown.

* Neha sums up Indian blogger reactions in the Global Voices Online.

From my personal experience in Mumbai I can tell that the shuttle train network is the lifeline of Mumbai. 6 Million people commute via this network each day from distant locations to the heart of financial capital of India. And the majority of the commuters are from middle class to lower middle class. So what kind of cowardice statement these terrorists are trying to give by killing innocent people indiscriminately? Are they trying to disrupt the communal harmony in the worlds biggest democracy?

Dilip D'Souza writes:

I've travelled in these very compartments, at this very time of day. Hundreds of times. I know how packed they are, how people hang from every inch. What happens to those people packed like that when a bomb left by a non-human goes off in there?

Just imagine what these non-humans are turning this world into.