Bomb wounds 20 in Indian temple city of Varanasi

Source: Washington post
LUCKNOW, India -- A bomb hidden in a metal canister exploded during a Hindu ceremony Tuesday, wounding 20 people, including four foreigners, in India's temple town of Varanasi.

Police said the blast appeared to be a terrorist attack but would not say who they suspected.

The bomb was hidden in a milk container on the Sheetla Ghat, one of many stone staircases leading to the Ganges river, according to police official Brij Lal.

The force of the explosion ripped away a metal railing and damaged stones up to 200 feet (60 meters) away, said a witness, Ramatama Srivastava.

Three victims, including one of the foreigners, were hospitalized in serious condition. It was not immediately clear where the foreigners were from.

Srivastava - who spoke by telephone from Varanasi, which is about 180 miles (300 kilometers) southeast of the Uttar Pradesh state capital of Lucknow - said he noticed the foreigners were watching the Hindu prayer ceremony and taking photographs.

In March 2006, twin bombings blamed on a Pakistan-based Islamic militant group tore through a train station and a temple in Varanasi, killing 20 people.