Severed limbs, mangled heaps of cycle rickshaws, bicycles and smashed windscreens of cars turned the crowded markets crammed with shoppers in the walled part of the Pink City into a virtual war zone minutes after the serial bomb blasts.
“We heard a big sound and what was left was a plume of smoke and blood all around,” said an injured eyewitness as he was taken to a hospital.
Scores of injured people were ferried to three hospitals soon after the blasts hit Tripolia Bazar, where a large number of devotees had turned up at the Hanuman Temple nearby, Johari Bazar, Manank Chowk, Badi Choupad and Choti Choupad in the walled part of the city.
This is the first time that the tourist hotspot of Jaipur has figured on the terror hit list.
Within minutes of the blast, one could see siren-blaring ambulances and vehicles zipping through the bylanes. The blasts triggered a near-stampede as panic-stricken people ran helter skelter in search of a safe place.
People were also seen carrying the injured as the number of ambulances fell far short of the requirement. The nearby hospitals were crowded as relatives thronged to look for their near and dear ones.
At one blast site, the body of a newly-wed woman, dressed in a bright red sari with the traditional chuda on her wrists, lay on the road. Another young man hung out of a rickshaw with his head turned back and his face smeared with blood.
Johri Bazar, one of the biggest shopping markets which was rocked by the blasts, lay strewn with bangles and mangled rickshaws. Also strewn around were shopping bags, blood-stained sandals and shoes of victims.
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