At least 44 people were killed and more than 150 injured in two bomb blasts in Mumbai, India's financial capital, hospital officials said.

The explosions occurred within minutes of each other in crowded areas and shook buildings in southern Mumbai, formerly Bombay.

Two taxis laden with explosives detonated within minutes of each other, police said.

Zaveri Bazaar, Mumbai (AP PHOTO)
Zaveri Bazaar, Mumbai (AP PHOTO)

One taxi exploded near the Gateway of India, a seaside landmark built by British colonizers to mark the 1911 visit of King George V. Windows were shattered in the nearby Taj Mahal Hotel, and pieces of the taxi were found as far as 20 metres away.

The other exploded in the Zaveri Bazaar, a crowded jewelry market, police said.

Police issued security alerts for Mumbai and the Indian capital of New Delhi after the explosions.




No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks. Police said they were concentrating their investigation on militant Islamic groups, including the Students Islamic Movement of India, or SIMI, and Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.

SIMI is a student group that was outlawed in September 2001. Lashkar-e-Tayyaba is one of several militant groups fighting Indian rule in Kashmir.

The noon-hour blasts came a few hours after the Archaeological Survey of India submitted a report on a site in northern India disputed by Muslims and Hindus.

A 16th century mosque at Ayodhya was torn down by a Hindu mob in 1992.

Hindus say a temple that marked the birthplace of their supreme god, Rama, had stood on the site long before the mosque was built.

In March, a bomb attack on a Mumbai commuter train killed 11 people and injured 65 others. Police blamed the attack on Islamic militants.

That attack came a day after the 10th anniversary of a series of bombings in Mumbai that killed more than 250 people and injured 1,000.

Police said the 1993 bombings were in retaliation for the destruction of the mosque in 1992.