Fatal Blasts At India Movie Houses

Bombs exploded inside two movie theaters showing a controversial Hindi-language film in the Indian capital on Sunday, killing one person and injuring at least 49 others, police and news reports said.

Both theaters are located in the Karol Bagh neighborhood of west Delhi and the explosions occurred 15 minutes apart, said Junior Home Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal.

At least 43 people were injured in the first blast at the Liberty Cinema around 8.30 p.m. local time, according to a list of injured pasted by police outside the theater. One of the injured died later at a hospital, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

The explosive was planted under a seat in the front rows, said Chief Fire Officer R.C. Sharma. About 15 minutes later, another explosion rocked the nearby Satyam Cinema, wounding at least seven people, he said. At Satyam, the bomb went off inside the wash room.

Authorities evacuated cinema halls in other parts of the city after the blasts and security forces in the capital were put on high alert. The two theaters were cordoned off by police and fire fighters.