PATNA, India (AP) A series of small bomb blasts killed five people and injured dozens Sunday in an east Indian city just before a massive campaign rally by the country's main opposition prime ministerial candidate in a nearby park.
After the six homemade bombs went off in the Bihar state capital of Patna, panic and confusion erupted briefly among the hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the park to hear Narendra Modi of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party speak.
Local reporters at the scene said authorities did not inform them of the blasts until the rally was over, and many people thought the explosions were from firecrackers or from cars misfiring.
Authorities quickly restored order and the rally went ahead as scheduled. Modi made no mention of the blasts during his hourlong speech, but offered condolences later to the victims in a Twitter message. The longtime chief minister of western Gujarat state has been waging a fierce national campaign to unseat the Congress-led government in next year's elections.
Police detained four men for questioning after the explosions, but did not say whether they were suspects.