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An Eye-witness Account

Rajiv’s smiling face blown off by bomb, body mutilated
MADRAS (India), May 22 : Former Indian Premier Rajiv Gandhi was accepting floral garlands from cheering crowds and waving at them when a sudden blast decapitated him Tuesday, eyewitnesses said, reports AFP.
' Mr Gandhi. 47, was ail smites as he slowly made his way to a makeshift platform at Srlperumpudur, a tiny town 50 kilometres (31 miles) from here. when the deafening explosion occurred, two witnesses said. One of them a journalist based here, said up to 20 others were also killed tn the blast.
Nobody initially seemed to know what happened. said the journalist, who works for an English-language newspaper here, then one man began screaming In Tamil they have killed Raj tv Gandhi, they have killed Rajiv Gandhi "
A photographer for a Tamil Daily said a part of Gandhi s face, "which until then was all smiles, was blown off by the explosion and his clothes were tom and covered with blood.
The photographer said he was some 25 feet (7.5 metres) away from Gandhi when he died.
I saw one head fly over our head. I don't know whose (head) ft was. My (newspaper's) reporter got blood on his shirt from that flying head, he said.
He said Gandhi's body was identified by his sports shoes.
The body was upside down. There was dust and blood on him a policeman lifted his smashed head to sec if it was Mr Gandhi. The clothes were all torn. But his sports shoes were there, the photographer added.
The shaken journalist who was a little further away, said the explosion was "massive."
There was confusion all around and people began run ning all over. It was a near stampede. Nobody initially seemed to know what hap pened. She said
The journalist said police immediately ringed the blast site, a large park, and refused to let reporters near Gandhi's body.
Among those killed was a superintendent of police, but she said she did not know who the other victims were.
The photographer said more than 10,000 people had gathered at Sriperumpudur to hear him and .they began shouting slogans in Tamil hailing Gandhi when he stepped out of his car with Io cal leaders of his Congress (1) party.
Many in the crowd hurled silk shawls at him in the traditional Tamil way of greeting.
Gandhi had flown in here at 8.30 pm (1500 GMT) from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh state fro a two-day election tour of Tamil Naru. a coastal state of 55 million divided from Sri Lanka by a narrow strip of sea.
The witnesses said several people garlanded him and Gandhi himself garlanded a statue of his mother Indira, slain six and a half years ago. before reaching the site of the proposed public meeting. He was smiling. He seemed happy to see the crowd, one of them said.
Congress (1) leaders who were on the platform came rushing down, screaming. "Where Is he Gandhi? Where is he?"
Then a local Congress (I) leader broke down.
The journalist said, 'people fell all over the place, after the explosion."
There was so much cloud and dust that wc couldn't see anything for a while, she said in an Interview. It took all of us some time to realise what had happened.