More than 50 dead in bus bombing By Devendra Man Singh in Madi, Nepal June 07, 2005 From: Agence France-Presse AT least 53 people were killed and 72 wounded when a powerful bomb ripped through a crowded bus in Nepal today. An army officer said the bus was torn apart by the force of the blast and passengers were badly mutilated by shards of metal and glass. "(The bus) rose into the air ... quite high and came down and split into two," the officer said, quoting witnesses. State radio and officials gave the death toll as 53, but warned it could rise. The radio report, quoting police superintendent Surendra Bahadur Shah, said 16 seriously injured people had been transferred to hospitals in Kathmandu for treatment. Supt Shah said the attack was the work of "terrorists", a word the police and military in Nepal use to describe Maoist rebels. Officials said many of the victims were women and children, and that three military personnel on their way home for a holiday were among the dead. The blast occurred at Madi village in the Maoist-controlled district of Chitwan, about 180km southwest of Kathmandu. The military cordoned off the scene so medics and family members could search for items that could prove helpful in identifying some of the victims, officials said. A search for the bombers was also under way throughout the district. Witnesses at the scene of the blast said the explosion left a hole in the dirt road 2m across. The charred and twisted bus had been pulled into a nearby field. An army officer in Chitwan district, who declined to be named, said a homemade bomb planted in the road was used by the suspected rebels to blow up the bus. "As the bus came near, the improvised explosive device was set off by remote control," he said. Another officer said: "The bodies of the dead were badly mutilated or blown to pieces by the explosion." There was no immediate claim of responsibility from the Maoists, who have been fighting to install a communist republic in Nepal since 1996. The insurgency has already claimed more than 11,000 lives. The Maoists have stepped up their campaign through road blockades and attacks on troops since King Gyanendra sacked the Coalition Government, imposed a state of emergency and assumed absolute power on February 1, saying it was necessary to tackle the insurgency. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/FHLuJD/_WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
