Kasab birthday: Terror attacks in Mumbai

There was a deafening blast and then people were lying injured on the road... that was the account by eyewitnesses at the sites of the three powerful explosions that rocked congested areas of Mumbai Wednesday evening.

The blasts took place in three areas of south Mumbai - near Kabutarkhana in Dadar (W), Zaveri Bazar and Opera House, the jewellery hubs of Mumbai.

Sadashiv Kamble, a shop owner from Dadar, said he heard a loud explosion and first thought it was a cylinder blast, but later realised it was much more serious and ran for life.

Another eyewitness from Dadar said when he first heard the blast he was trying to gauge the situation and then realised it was a bomb explosion.

"I heard a loud explosion. And then I saw people with serious injuries lying in pools of blood," he said.

The three blasts left at least 13 people dead and over 100 injured.

At least six injured people were rushed to nearby hospitals from the blast site at Kabutarkhana in Dadar west in the evening peak hour when the locality was packed with people.

In Zaveri Bazar, the blast occurred in the famous Khau Gully, which is full of people having their favourite snacks before catching local trains to go home.

An eyewitness, Datatray Jadhav from Zaveri Bazar, said they first heard a loud explosion and rushed to find a girl grievously injured. "A girl and another man were seriously injured. We put them both in a police van and sent them to the hospital," he said.

"Two others were also injured, however, not as serious. I helped them get into a taxi and reach a nearby medical centre," he said.

At Opera House, near Charni Road rail station, the blast took place in a building where many diamond and gold jewellery firms are located.