BASTARDS. Another rush hour, another train bombing, this time in Mumbai, India.

Eight bombs exploded in first-class compartments of packed Bombay commuter trains Tuesday, killing 190 people and wounding hundreds in a well-coordinated terror attack on the heart of a city that embodies India's global ambitions.

Again, the bombers synchronized their efforts.

Security was tightened in cities around the world from New Delhi to New York after the eight blasts, which struck seven trains within minutes of each other during the early evening rush hour. The bombings appeared timed to inflict maximum carnage in this bustling Arabian Sea port of 16 million, more than 6 million of whom ride the crowded rail network daily.

The Press Trust of India news agency said early Wednesday that police had increased the toll to 190 killed and 625 injured. In the hours immediately after the attacks, officials put the toll at 147 dead and 439 injured.

For the short term the terrorists, whatever their motives might have been, achieved one tactical goal.

Some residents returned to ride the trains to work early Wednesday, but there was not the usual crush of passengers. In many first-class cars - the target of the bombings - there were fewer than half the usual 60 to 70 people.

"Our trust in Bombay has been shattered, we had always thought trains were safe, but what can we do - in this city trains are the lifeline," said Brijesh Ojha, 35, who boarded the train at Bandra station, where the first blast occurred. "They can't scare us this way."

These terrorist attacks have identified a vulnerability in the mobile 'phone network.

The mobile phone network collapsed, adding to the sense of panic across the city. With train services down until midnight, thousands of people were stranded without any way of reaching their
families.

Something goes wrong, everybody who has a mobile 'phone attempts to use it, the network can't handle it. One doesn't have to knock down the repeater towers, a side effect of the World Trade Center attack, to disrupt the network.

No doubt some fourth-rate Barrington Moore will see the unfortunate necessity of blowing up the first-class accommodation.

The Press Trust of India, citing railway officials, said all the blasts hit first-class cars - a sign the assailants were targeting the professional class in a city that has come to embody India's 21st century ambitions.

Bombay, also known as Mumbai, is the center of India's booming financial industry and the home of Bollywood, a city that presents itself to the world as a cosmopolitan metropolis where bankers dine with movie stars and fashion models party until dawn.

While that image captures one side of life in the city, Bombay is also crowded and largely poor. And across the city, the prosperous and downtrodden worked together to aid survivors.

I can see the argument already: until there is first class for everybody, there ought not be first class for anybody. Some people got tired of talking about it and decided to do something.

Insta Pundit has his usual comprehensive battlefield coverage. Counterterrorism Blog's coverage includes a map of the suburban lines. Mumbai is a very thickly settled metropolitan area. India Uncut has extensive coverage. There's a new Blogspot weblog called Mumbai Help that is attempting to reunite survivors and locate injured people. (The hotshots might snark at those free Blogger basic weblogs, but the service comes in quite handy at times like this when getting something out in a hurry is what matters.) Updates on available train service are also available online.

Spare a moment for the residents of Mumbai, who may have just been drafted into the war on Islamofascism. I will be following this story and any fundraising responses that emerge.