At least 15 people were killed and about 200 wounded as powerful bombs exploded almost simultaneously in all the four cinema halls in the town on Saturday evening.

As the news of serial blasts in Ajanta, Purabi, Chhayabani and Aloka movie houses spread, people rushed into rescue operation and carried the blood-spattering victims to hospitals and clinics.

The first bomb blew off at around 6:10 PM while second, third and the fourth around 6:30 PM. The terrible blasts occurred when the films were being screened in the halls packed with Eid holiday- makers.

Witnesses at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital said eight people were killed in Aloka and 2 in Ajanta while five others succumbed to their injuries in hospitals.

This was a second incidence of terrible cinema bombings in the country in little over two months. On September 28, deadly bomb explosions in a cinema hall and a circus show in southern Satkhira district left over 200 people wounded. Several of them died later on.

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Bombs hit cinemas in Bangladesh

Police in northern Bangladesh say at least 10 people have been killed and several others injured in a series of bomb blasts.

The explosions took place in four cinemas in Mymensingh town, 112 kilometres (70 miles) from the capital Dhaka.

Officials say the death toll is likely to increase.

There is no indication who might have been behind the blasts.

The theatres were packed with people who had gone out after the end of the Eid al-Fitr holiday - the Muslim festival marking the end of the Ramadan month of fasting.

Successive blasts

The first explosion came at the end of a show at Ajanta theatre and killed two people instantly.

The others came at five-to-10-minute intervals as shows were still going on.

People ran out of the buildings screaming for help, while commuters and bystanders rushed the injured to hospital.

The Associated Press news agency reports that more than 200 people have been injured.