India's Interior Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said on Friday (February 22) 14 people were killed and 119 wounded in the twin bomb blasts at a crowded market place in Hyderabad city a day earlier.

Early on Friday, Shinde, along with the Chief of Andhra Pradesh State, Kiran Kumar Reddy, visited the blast site and met some of the wounded in hospital.

"The total dead are 14 and total injured is 119 out of this six are critical," Shinde said.

Shinde also met officials of the National Investigation Agency, who have been sifting through the debris for evidence at the blast site.

"The state government has already appointed investigation team and the matter is being investigated now," he added.

All major cities in the country were placed on high alert, television channels said, adding that as many as 15 people may have been killed in the explosions.

Witnesses told that they heard at least two explosions in the Dilsukh Nagar area of Hyderabad just after dusk on Thursday (February 21) but there could have been more.

TV showed debris and body parts strewn on the street in the area, a crowded neighbourhood of cinema halls, shops, restaurants and a fruit and vegetable market.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called it a "dastardly attack".

Presented by Adam Justice

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