Huge blast rocks Indian Kashmir; many casualties

A massive explosion rocked the main business district of Srinagar, the summer capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state, on Wednesday, witnesses said. The explosion occurred near the headquarters of the state-owned Jammu-Kashmir Bank Ltd. in the Lal Chowk area, which is usually crowded with office workers and shoppers. Witnesses said there were many injured people. "The explosion was massive and there are a large number of casualties. I saw a lot of injured people on the road crying. I don't know about fatalities," Nazir Ahmed, a manager at the bank, told The Associated Press by telephone.