Media - Amusement Parks

Reuters
Published: Aug 26, 2007

Officials sent extra police and special bomb detection equipment to an Indian state after bombs packed with metal pellets killed 43 people at a packed street food-stall and an amusement park. Police have found another dozen bombs -- fitted with timers and placed in plastic bags -- at bus stops, cinema halls, road junctions and pedestrian bridges across Hyderabad, capital of Andhra Pradesh state, after Saturday night's blasts in the city. "Definitely some terrorist organisation is behind these attacks, which wants to weaken our unity and peaceful co-existence," Junior Home Minister Sri Prakash Jaiswal said late on Saturday.

Nearly 80 people, including women and children, were wounded by the three blasts that went off within the space of a few minutes. Some of the wounded were in critical condition. "The metal pellets in the bombs had worked as deadly missiles, killing more people," said Dr. K. Shastry, a senior doctor at a large hospital, which received many dead and wounded. The police said each of the bombs also contained ammonium and were rigged with alarm clocks.

Eleven people died in two blasts at the Lumbini amusement park during a laser light show, while 32 died in the explosion at the street food stall in the heart of the city's commercial district, police said. Police were probing the role of Islamist militants, blamed for other recent bombings in different cities. Hyderabad is an information technology hub where foreign firms have made large investments."They had come to shop and had stopped for a bite. Now they are all gone," said Bhaskar, 41, a family friend of two teenage girls and a young woman, who died at the food stall.

Outside the hospital, Hyderabad residents, including victims' families, shouted anti-government slogans. New Delhi has often blamed Pakistan-based Islamist militant groups for attacks in India. Indian officials say Pakistan needs to do more to curb the groups based in its territory.

Fire Destroys Sea-Front Arcade

BBC News
Published: April 4, 2003

A huge fire has swept through two amusement arcades on Margate seafront. Firefighters were called to the incident at Mr G's amusement arcade, in Marine Terrace, at 0644 BST on Friday. Nobody was hurt in the fire, but the arcade building was destroyed. The flames spread to another amusement arcade next door and other neighboring buildings. The fire is being seen as a major blow for the resort as the summer season approaches. 'It's completely gone.' The fire was on a busy seafront road, less than 50 yards from Margate's Dreamland theme park. The four-storey building, in an Edwardian terrace, collapsed within an hour of firefighters being called out.

A gaping hole now stands in the terrace, where the destroyed building previously stood. Radio Kent reporter Graham Cooke, who was at the scene, said: "It's completely gone - all there is is a pile of smouldering debris which used to be an amusement arcade."

The fire was on a busy seafront road, less than 50 yards from Margate's Dreamland theme park. The four-storey building, in an Edwardian terrace, collapsed within an hour of firefighters being called out. A gaping hole now stands in the terrace, where the destroyed building previously stood. Radio Kent reporter Graham Cooke, who was at the scene, said: "It's completely gone - all there is is a pile of smouldering debris which used to be an amusement arcade." Kent Fire Brigade sent about 120 firefighters to tackle the flames. Homes near the seafront were evacuated and roads around the scene closed off while the fire was dealt with, bringing much of the town to a standstill.

"It's obviously going to affect us and the seafront for Easter, being just a few days away, and we were obviously getting ready for the summer season. Fire investigators have begun the process of trying to establish how the fire began. Paul Lukehurst from Kent Fire Brigade said: "It really is too early to come up with any conclusions.