15 dead, 200 injured in cinema bombings

Bombs have exploded in four cinemas in northern Bangladesh, killing at least 15 people and injuring more than 200 others.

The cinemas were crowded with people, who were celebrating Eid-al-Fitr, the Islamic festival marking the end of the Ramadan month of fasting.

The explosions occurred in Mymensingh town, about 110 kilometres north of the capital, Dhaka, the United News of Bangladesh reports

No-one has claimed responsibility for the blasts.

Ten people were killed instantly, while five others died of their injuries on the way to hospital, doctors are quoted as saying.

Hospital authorities have appealed for blood donations to treat the injured.

The bombs went off in a 30-minute span starting at about 6pm Bangladesh time.

Similar bombings of a theatre and a circus show left six people dead and at least 200 injured in September in the south-western Satkhira district. Nobody took responsibility for those bombings.