Rescue workers and police have plucked 65 diamonds from the debris-strewn streets of Mumbai’s precious stone hub that was targeted last week in deadly bomb blasts, an industry group said yesterday.

Teams of workers made the discoveries while picking through rubble and panning muddy monsoon puddles in the Opera House area in the south of the city, one of three sites attacked on Wednesday in blasts that left 19 dead.

The area is a maze of narrow streets housing wholesale and retail diamond outlets where couriers are seen on most days darting between shops transporting merchandise.

“We have found 65 pieces,” said Jayesh Labdhi, a committee member of the Mumbai Diamond Merchants’ Association trade group.

“We will have a meeting... and they may be auctioned, which would help those who have been injured or lost their lives,” he said.

The diamonds, which are being kept with the association, have not yet been valued, Ms Labdhi added.

Association’s president Bharat Shah, however, said many traders were likely to try to trace property lost in the blasts by identifying recovered stones via their description, colour, clarity and purity.

Sanjay Kothari, the vice-chairman of the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, said a decision had not been taken about auctioning the recovered diamonds but a meeting would be held in the coming days.

He said losses to traders due to the rush-hour blasts had been minimised because torrential rain had prompted many people to leave for home early, leaving fewer diamond couriers on the crowded streets.

“Three or four people from our association died and about 40 others were injured. There wasn’t any looting, apart from one fellow who took a diamond from the ground. The police caught him and he handed it back,” Mr Shah added.