Explosion rocks Government Building in Central Oslo , 2 confirmed dead

Smoke rises from buildings in Oslo, Norway, at the scene of a large explosion which tore apart several buildings.

A loud explosion today shattered windows at the government headquarters in Oslo which includes the Norwegian prime minister’s office, injuring several people.  Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg is safe, government spokeswoman Camilla Ryste said.

Norway PM Stoltenberg says the blasts are “very serious,” bit it istoo early to say if terrorists are to be blamed.

There was no claim of responsibility, though NATO member Norway has been the target of threats, if not bombs, before, notably over its involvement in conflicts in Afghanistan and Libya. Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was safe, NTB said.

NRK radio said at least two people were killed in an attack that may have brought global political violence to the quiet Scandinavian city.

Images on Norwegian television showed the prime minister’s office and other buildings heavily damaged, sidewalks covered in broken glass and smoke rising from the area.The explosion blew out most of the windows of the 17-storey central government building, cast a huge pall of smoke over the city and scattered shards of metal and other debris for hundreds of meters.

Nearby ministries were also hit, including the oil ministry, which was on fire. Heavy debris littered the streets.

“So far I can confirm that we have received seven people at Oslo University Hospital,” a press officer at the clinic said. “I don’t know how seriously wounded they are.”

Smoke is seen billowing from a damaged building as debris is strewn across the street after an explosion in Oslo, Norway Friday July 22, 2011

Witness Ole Tommy Pedersen was standing at a bus stop about 100 meters from the high-rise at around 3:30 pm (1330GMT) when he saw the blast shatter almost all windows of the 20-floor highrise. He said a cloud of smoke is billowing from the bottom floors.

“I saw three or four injured people being carried out of the building a few minutes later,” Pedersen said. Nearby offices were evacuated including those housing some of Norway’s leading newspapers and news agency NTB.

An AP reporter at the scene saw one person with a bleeding leg being led away from the area.

Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg was reported to have not been in his office at the time of the blast. Police had sealed off the area, which houses the offices of the prime minister, the finance ministry and the country’s biggest tabloid newspaper Verdens Gang (VG).

NRK radio said at least two people were killed in an attack. AP

Two cabinet ministers said that Stoltenberg had been scheduled to be visiting areas far outside Oslo today. News agency NTB also reported that Stoltenberg was “safe”.

Witnesses said the damage was extensive and that injured victims could be seen.

John Drake, senior risk consultant, at London-based consultancy AKE said: “It may not be too dissimilar to the terrorist attack in Stockholm in December which saw a car bomb and secondary explosion shortly after in the downtown area.”

“That attack was later claimed as reprisal for Sweden’s contribution to the efforts in Afghanistan.”

NATO member Norway has sometimes in the past been threatened by leaders of al Qaeda for its involvement in Afghanistan. But political violence is virtually unknown in a country known for sponsoring the Nobel Peace Prize and mediating in international conflicts, including in the Middle East and Sri Lanka.

It has also taken part the NATO bombing of Libya, where Muammar Gaddafi has threatened to strike back in Europe.

Three Congress workers killed in Chhattisgarh blast

At least three Congress workers were killed and four others injured when Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee president Nand Kumar Patel’s road convoy was struck by a powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Raipur district.

While Mr. Patel’s vehicle escaped unscathed, a trailing vehicle carrying party workers was destroyed in the blast.

Police officials said three or four men had been killed in the blast, but were awaiting confirmation of the final death toll.

The banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) is believed to be behind the attack, but is yet to claim responsibility. In May this year, Maoist cadres killed nine police officers including an Assistant Superintendent of Police in an ambush in the same area. Police officers surmise that the operation was probably carried out by an Orissa-based faction that crossed the border to conduct the attack.

The incident occurred at about 5:30 p.m. at Udanti puliya, about 180 km from State capital Raipur. Mr. Patel was returning from addressing a farmer’s meeting in Durvagudi village when his convoy was attacked. “The blast occurred 12 to 15 minutes after Mr. Patel’s vehicle had crossed the spot. Maoists also opened fire on the trailing vehicles,” said Assistant Director General of Police Ram Niwas. It is believed that at least one of the deaths was caused when a passenger in a trailing vehicle was struck by a bullet.

In a television interview, Mr. Patel expressed disbelief at the lack of security and said the police was informed of the Congress’s intention to stage a farmers’ gathering in the area. “Naxalism has reached the doorstep of the State capital. The State president’s convoy has been attacked,” said PCC member Shailesh Trivedi, “This is the first time that the workers of a democratic party like the Congress have been attacked while returning from a rally.”

Mumbaikars ignores blood, bombs; rushes in to help and heal

Panic and shock gripped the food bazaars of South Mumbai and the busy weekday market of Dadar as a series of explosions rocked the crowded locations on Wednesday evening. At Zaveri Bazar as well as Opera House, it was the peak-hour rush at the two khau gallis that became the target. Dadar Market, on any day, is a sitting duck.

From the scenes of crime to the halls of healing , ordinary citizens sidestepped glass shards and pools of blood to cart corpses, injured persons and severed body parts to hospital. Volunteers diverted traffic and gave right of way to ambulances and fire engines even as civic workers helped the police gather evidence and remove debris.

The street lights went out in the alleys of Zaveri Bazar and the rain dampened rescue efforts. Sho cked shop owners pointed to the remains of the scooter upon which the explosive had been placed.“We saw an umbrella wrapped in wires on the scooter.

The vehicle did not bear a number plate and did not belong to any of the local residents,”said eye-witness Vinod Divecha.

Added another volunteer, Snehal Shah, “This area is abuzz with traders and workers who park their scooters as they stop by for food.”

All hands on deck as Mumbai goes into emergency mode Snehal Shah, a volunteer, lamented the inaction on the part of the authorities despite repeated complaints about illegal parking in the Zaveri Bazar area.

Although the jamming of mobile phone networks for two hours added to the panic, Mumbai rose to the occasion magnificently, going into emergency mode with all hands on deck. Taxi drivers allowed bystanders to pile in the dead and the injured and ferried them to hospital free of charge. Medical institutes threw open all their operating theatres and casualty wards and recalled the entire staff, including those who were off duty.

A melee erupted outside the barred gates of Harkisondas Hospital as distraught relatives and doctors tried to fight their way through crowds of anxious blood donors and onlookers. Inside, the white tiles of the casualty ward were marked with bloodied footprints. The victims’ identities slowly began to filter through. Twenty-one-year-old Pankaj Soni, who worked with his father in the family’s jewellery store at Lamington Road, was in Zaveri Bazar for some work.

On lookers say he had gone to khau galli to eat when he was trapped in the blast. His relative , Ramesh Soni, said that Pankaj was declared dead at GT Hospital.

Suparna Adhikari was waiting at KEM Hospital, Parel, for news of her father Dhananjay Adhikari. She said, “He left our home in Parel for Opera House at 3.30pm to meet a friend.” When she heard about the blast, she kept trying his phone but he didn’t answer. Her brother then found out through friends that their father was admitted to KEM.

Dharavi resident Sanjay Jadhav had been running from one hospital to another, looking for his 55-yearold mother Bhima.

The woman, a fruit vendor, usually sat at the site where Wednesday’s blast occurred. “I went to the site but she wasn’t there. I have come to KEM and her name is not in the list,” Jadhav said.

There were others who survived by a stroke of fate. Rajan Mandalik was close to the blast site at Zaveri Bazar. He had walked a few metres away from the spot to attend a phone call seconds before the blast. His friend Kishan Mandal (32), however , was not as lucky. Mandal was missing till late at night, by which time his friends had checked out four hospitals. “His name is not there on either the  deceased or missing persons lists,” said Mandalik. “He was sitting on a bike and was dangerously close to the blast spot. We are keeping our fingers crossed.”

List Of Victims. GT Hospital
Sunil Raut, Shivraj Patil, Ravi Bora, Raju Yadav
Saifee
Sandeep Champaklal Shah, Ali Azgar Batatawala, Tushar, Ramesh Chandra, One unknown, Sanjay Mehta, Mohd Darodia
St Georges Hospital
Lalchand Ahuja
Harkisandas Hospital
Sunil Kumar Jain, Bhupat Nabadia, Mohan Nair, 2 unknown
Bombay Hospital
Himmatbhai Kalubhai Gudiya

Gunpowder explodes at Cyprus Naval base, 11 killed

Cypriot rescue workers assess the situation at the "Evangelos Florakis" naval base in Zygi

Huge blasts in a seized Iranian weapons cache at a Greek Cypriot naval base in the south of the Mediterranean island killed at least 11 people on Monday, state media said.

The force of the explosions blew out virtually every window in the nearby fishing village of Zygi, whose seafront restaurants are popular with the many tourists who frequent the resort island, an AFP correspondent reported.

The island's largest power station at Vassiliko right next to the base was virtually levelled by the blast, causing widespread power cuts that are likely to last for months.

Three of its four main buildings were virtually levelled along the generator's two main fuel tanks, the correspondent said.

The main motorway connecting the capital Nicosia with the island's second-largest city Limassol runs less than a kilometre (half a mile) from the plant and motorists passing at the time of the blasts reported debris flying through the air.

State television broadcast images of damaged vehicles, twisted road signs and debris strewn across the central reservation.

Five hours after the blasts, an AFP correspondent saw four fires still raging at the plant.

Interior Minister Neoklis Sylikiotis told the state CNA news agency that the village of Mari just east of the base was devastated by the explosion with virtually every home damaged.

Police prevented journalists from approaching the village or the Evangelos Florakis naval base itself, named after a military commander who died in a helicopter crash exactly nine years to the day before the blasts.

But the speaker of parliament, Yiannakis Omirou, who is a former defence minister and visited the scene, said the explosion had been so massive that the entire arms cache had been destroyed without trace.

President Demetris Christofias also visited the stricken base ahead of an emergency cabinet meeting.

According to public radio, the fire brigade was called to a wildfire near the base at 4:24 am (0124 GMT) and that the explosions followed at 5:50 am (0250 GMT) as the fire raged out of control.

Five firefighters were among the 11 dead, who also included four members of the Greek Cypriot National Guard and two sailors, CNA said. State television said at least 12 people were killed.

Wildfires are a frequent problem in Cyprus in the tinder-dry conditions created by the searing summer heat.

Health Minister Christos Patsalides said three people were undergoing emergency surgery after being seriously hurt by the blasts. Another 35 to 40 people had suffered more minor injuries, he said.

National Guard chief Petros Tsaliklides told public radio that the blasts struck among containers of Iranian munitions seized from Cypriot-flagged vessel M/V Monchegorsk in 2009.

It was intercepted in the eastern Mediterranean en route to Syria in January that year and, after repeated searches, its cargo was eventually seized.

A UN Security Council panel concluded that March the shipment was in clear violation of an arms embargo against Iran adopted as part of UN sanctions imposed over Tehran's controversial nuclear programme and the seized weapons were put into storage.

"There were 98 containers of gunpowder. Two of them (caught) fire and huge explosions occurred," a police spokesman told CNA news agency.

The Iranian ambassador visited the Cypriot presidential palace in Nicosia for a 20-minute meeting after the blast, public radio said.

Power was restored to the island's main international airport at Larnaca by mid-morning after extensive disruption to early flights but electricity remained out in the resort city and across much of the south of the island.

The Cyprus Electricity Authority appealed to consumers to cut down on their power use, as demand for air conditioning in the summer heat far outstripped supply from the two power stations still working, threatening to crash the entire national grid.

Cypriot authorities impounded the Iranian weapons under a 2007 sanctions resolution adopted by the Security Council.

It requires that "Iran shall not supply, sell or transfer from its territory any arms and related materiel, and that all states shall prohibit the procurement of such items from Iran."

Israeli media reported that the Monchegorsk was suspected of carrying Iranian arms destined for the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and was detained by the Cypriot authorities in response to requests from both Israel and the United States.

Israel has long accused Iran of arming Islamists in Gaza, a charge Tehran denies even though it says it offers moral support to Hamas.

Iran reacted furiously to the interception of the cargo bound for Syria, its main Arab ally, and strongly denied accusations that the weapons were intended for either Hamas or the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah.