Delhi blast: 9 killed, 20 injured in car explosion near Red Fort; eyewitnesses recount horror

New Delhi: A high-intensity explosion ripped through a slow-moving car at a traffic signal near the Red Fort metro station on Monday evening, killing at least nine people and gutting several vehicles, officials said.

Twenty people, including two women, were injured in the blast that took place on a busy evening when the area was milling with people. The injured were taken to the LNJP Hospital, a few kilometres away.

Police said that the car, in which the blast took place, had three occupants, adding that they are also probing if it was a suicide bomber attack.

"The blast occurred in a moving Hyundai i20 car in which three people were sitting. We have not found any pellet or puncture in the body of the injured, which is unusual in a blast. We are investigating all angles," said a senior police officer.

Eyewitnesses said that the explosion was deafening and they were unable to hear anything clearly after several minutes. The loud blast was heard over a wide area up to ITO, covering around two kms, they said.

It shattered the window panes of vehicles parked several metres away and the glass panels of the Red Fort metro station.

The Delhi Police detained car owner Mohd. Salman late in the evening and questioned him about the vehicle, the officer said, adding that he sold it to a person in Okhla namely Devendra one-and-a-half years ago.

Later, the vehicle was sold to someone in Ambala and it was again sold to a man named Tariq in Pulwama, and police are tracing the people, the officer said.

A high alert has been sounded in Delhi, and security has been beefed up at city border points, with vehicle checking intensified.

Panic gripped the area as fire billowed from burning cars following the explosion.

Videos shared by the Chandni Chowk Traders' Association revealed the magnitude of the blast. A mangled body could be seen lying on a vehicle, while another clip showed a body on the road. Eyewitnesses said body parts could be seen scattered near the blast site.

Ten fire tenders were rushed to the spot as police cordoned off the area, the Delhi Fire Services said. The blaze caused by the blast was brought under control by 7.29 pm, officials said.

Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha, who inspected the blast site, told reporters that there was a blast around 6.52 pm in a slow-moving vehicle at a traffic signal near the Red Fort metro station.

"There were passengers inside the vehicle. Other vehicles got affected. All agencies -- Delhi Police, Forensic Science Laboratory, National Investigation Agency (NIA), National Security Guard (NSG) -- have arrived and they are taking stock of the situation," he said.

The blast in Delhi occurred hours after the recovery of around 360 kg of suspected ammonium nitrate and a cache of arms and ammunition from a Kashmiri doctor's rented accommodation in Faridabad, bordering Delhi.

The Haryana Police, in coordination with their Jammu and Kashmir counterparts, arrested Dr Muzammil Ganaie from Faridabad's Dhauj area.

Police sources said that the Forensic Science Laboratory are inspecting if ammonium nitrate has been used in the blast which will confirm its link to the Faridabad module.

Further, no smell of RDX was detected at the spot and all angles are being probed thoroughly, they said. The bomb disposal team will also be checking the blast site for detonators and any bomb making material.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who visited the blast site and also met the victims at the LNJP Hospital, spoke to the Delhi police chief and the director of the Intelligence Bureau to take stock of the situation.

He said the blast took place in a Hyundai i20 car at a traffic signal near Red Fort here at around 7 pm. It damaged three to four other vehicles and injured pedestrians and people travelling in auto rickshaws.

According to a list shared by the LNJP Hospital, a total of 20 people were injured in the incident, including two women and 18 men.

Of them, 12 are the residents of Delhi while eight from other states, including Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh.

The youngest injured victim has been identified as 21-year-old Shivam Jha from Usmanpur, Delhi.

The police said that nine people died in the blast, adding that one mutilated body was recovered from the site.

Two deceased have been identified as 34-year-old Ashok Kumar from Amroha in UP and 35-year-old Amar Kataria from Delhi while rest are unidentified and aged between 28 and 58.

After the blast, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took stock of the situation and expressed condolences over the deaths. No terror outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

The police are scanning CCTV footage to determine the route of the vehicle before the blast occurred. They are questioning locals and asking eyewitnesses to share information about any suspicious activity in the lead-up to the incident.

Mobile dump data is being gathered, and dossiers of suspected terrorists are being scanned.

According to a fire department official, six cars, two e-rickshaws and one autorickshaw were gutted in the fire.

Meanwhile, the opposition parties, including the Congress, demanded a thorough and speedy investigation into the incident, and raised concerns over the security situation in the national capital.

A person injured in the incident said the explosion appeared to have originated from a car. Another witness said, "I was at the gurdwara when I heard a loud sound. We were dumbfounded. A number of vehicles were completely damaged." In the aftermath of the incident, the Chandni Chowk market will be closed on Tuesday, said market president Sanjay Bhargaw.

Bhargaw's shop is about 800 metres away from the incident site. He said the entire building shook due to the blast. There was chaos in the market as people started running, he shared.