Blast at Delhi court kills nine

7 September 2011 Last updated at 02:12 ET

A bomb was said to have been placed in a briefcase outside a main gate to the court

At least nine people have been killed and 45 injured in an explosion outside the high court in the Indian capital, Delhi, officials say.

The blast took place outside one of the main gates leading to the reception of the busy high court.

The explosion was caused by “at least a medium-intensity bomb”, home ministry official UK Bansal said.

A minor blast happened outside the same court in June when a bomb exploded inside a car. There were no casualties.

The latest explosion occurred around 10:17 local time (04:47 GMT).

Home Secretary RK Singh told the CNN-IBN news channel that the blast killed nine people and wounded 45 others.

“The bomb was apparently placed in a briefcase next to the reception at one of the main gates of the court,” Special Police Commissioner Dharmendra Kumar told reporters.

News channels showed ambulances taking away a number of people who appeared to be severely injured.

Kirti Uppal, an eyewitness, told CNN-IBN that the blast happened in front of a reception area which issues passes for entry into the court.

“It sounded like a very powerful explosion. There is panic everywhere. We have taken a lot of injured to the hospital,” he said.

An unnamed lawyer outside the court said he heard a “deafening sound and saw a lot of smoke” when he was parking his car.

“There were a lot of people in a queue for passes at the gate. I saw blood on the road, I saw body parts,” he said.

In July, 26 people died in three explosions in the country’s financial capital, Mumbai.

Mumbai is now on a state of high alert, the police control room has told the BBC.

The BBC’s Sanjoy Majumder, in Delhi, says the area was crowded with lawyers and witnesses because Wednesday is the day when most public-interest litigation is heard at the high court.

Forensic experts are now collecting debris to analyse but there has been no word from police on who they suspect might be behind the attack, our correspondent adds.

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