The 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings were a series of seven bomb blasts that took place over a period of 11 minutes on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai , capital city of the Indian state ofMaharashtra and the nation's financial capital. The bombs were set off in pressure cookers on trains plying the western line of the Suburban Railway network. 209 people lost their lives and over 700 were injured. According to Mumbai Police, the bombings were carried out by Lashkar-e-Toiba andStudents Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
Pressure cookers with a 2.5 kg mixture of RDX and ammonium nitrate in each,were placed on trains on the western line of the suburban ("local") train network, which forms the backbone of the city's transport network. Pressure cookers were used in this bombing and other recent explosions to increase the afterburn in a thermobaric reaction, more powerful than conventional high explosives.The first blast reportedly took place at 18:24 IST (12:54 UTC), and the explosions continued for approximately eleven minutes, until 18:35,during the after-work rush hour. All the bombs had been placed in the first-class "general" compartments (some compartments are reserved for women, called "ladies" compartments) of several trains running from Churchgate, the city-centre end of the western railway line, to the western suburbs of the city. They exploded at or in the near vicinity of the suburban railway stations of Matunga Road, Mahim,Bandra, Khar Road, Jogeshwari, Bhayandar and Borivali.Home Minister Shivraj Patil told reporters that authorities had "some" information an attack was coming, "but place and time was not known".
Memorial service
A memorial service was held in Mumbai on 18 July at 6:25 pm local time — exactly one week after the blasts. President Abdul Kalam, his hand raised to his forehead in salute, led the two-minute silence as people lit candles and placed wreaths at Mahim station, one of the seven places on the suburban rail network hit by bombs. Sirens sounded across Mumbai marking the memorial service. People gathered at the site of the blasts, in railway stations on the city's Western Line and millions of people stopped talking, traffic came to a halt and cinemas interrupted films as a city that never stops observed a silence for bombing victims.
A memorial service was held in Mumbai on 18 July at 6:25 pm local time — exactly one week after the blasts. President Abdul Kalam, his hand raised to his forehead in salute, led the two-minute silence as people lit candles and placed wreaths at Mahim station, one of the seven places on the suburban rail network hit by bombs. Sirens sounded across Mumbai marking the memorial service. People gathered at the site of the blasts, in railway stations on the city's Western Line and millions of people stopped talking, traffic came to a halt and cinemas interrupted films as a city that never stops observed a silence for bombing victims.
