Shattered cars, blood litter Mumbai blast scenes

Throngs of tourists and trinket-sellers spending a leisurely afternoon outside the Gateway of India arch were sent scurrying for cover as a taxi in the parking lot blew apart, smashing window panes across the street at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai's most prestigious address.

Seven minutes later, another taxi exploded outside one of the city's most popular Hindu temples inside Mumbai's densely populated old city, demolishing a ramshackle shop selling fruit juice.

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Kanak Raja had just parked his Mitsubishi Lancer outside the Gateway of India when a taxi exploded, sending splinters flying in all directions.

"The roof of the taxi was ripped apart and was thrown at least 100 metres (yards) near the entrance of the Taj Mahal," he said, referring to the luxury hotel whose guests have included everyone from Prince Charles to Michael Jackson.

"There was chaos. People ran for cover and shouted. Some people had blood streaming from their bodies," Raja said.

Tanaji Pawar, a bus driver, was startled by the blast as he walked towards the Gateway of India, an archway built by British colonialists in 1924 after a visit by King George V.

"I rushed back when I heard the explosion," Pawar said, adding he saw panic-stricken men and women running helter-skelter.

"I helped some of the injured people, bundled them into private cars or cabs and rushed them to hospital," he said.

"It was a scene of complete anarchy and chaos. I knew when I lifted some of the injured that they had no chances of survival. They were dead."

The whole area was cordoned off, with scores of police scouring the scene for clues. Sniffer dogs were brought out to search for other bombs around southern Bombay, the city's financial heart.

Minutes later a taxi exploded outside the Mumbadevi temple named after the patron goddess of the city -- known locally as Mumbai.

A small shop selling juice was rendered unrecognisable with a few surrounding shops and cars also destroyed. The dense jungle of buildings around the temple saved the shrine from any damage.