Indian town buries dead from blast

MALEGAON, India, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Residents of Malegaon, India buried their dead and troops patrolled the streets Saturday, a day after bombs killed 38 people and wounded nearly 200.

The city of about 700,000 people in the western state of Maharashtra, was calm after a three bombs exploded almost simultaneously as throngs of Muslims left Friday prayers at a mosque, the Press Trust of India reported.

One bomb went off inside the mosque's courtyard, another outside its gate and a third in the nearby town square.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said the attack was the work of "terrorists." Home Minister Shivraj Patil noted the attack occurred on the day Muslims observe Shab-e-Barat, or the "night of forgiveness or atonement."

Local hospitals struggled to treat the rush of patients due to inadequate facilities and absence of specialists to treat traumatized children injured in the explosions.