Car blast kills at least 10 people near historic Red Fort in India’s Delhi
Esha Mitra, Sana Noor Haq
(CNN) — A car explosion killed at least 10 people near a metro station at the landmark Red Fort monument in Delhi, India, on Monday.
More than 30 other people were “badly injured” in the blast, said Dr. Manish Kumar Jha, a physician at the local Lok Nayak Hospital. “Many are not in a position of recovering,” he told reporters.
While the cause of the blast is not yet known, airports, railway stations, government buildings and heritage sites across the country have been put on high alert, according to the Central Industrial Security Force. The US embassy in New Delhi is advising Americans to avoid the surrounding area as well as large crowds.
The Red Fort, known in India as the Lal Qila, is a 17th-century Mughal-era fort named for its large, red sandstone enclosing walls. The UNESCO World Heritage site is visited by millions of people throughout the year.
Before the explosion, a “slow-moving” vehicle “came to a stop” near a red light around 6:42 p.m. local time (5:42 a.m. ET), Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha told reporters.
“An explosion occurred in that vehicle. The passengers in the vehicle and people in surrounding vehicles were impacted,” Golcha said. At least six vehicles and three autorickshaws were set on fire, Reuters reported, citing Delhi’s deputy fire chief.
Emergency crews then arrived at the scene and extinguished the blaze – after receiving a call at 6:55 p.m. local time (5:55 a.m. ET), Sumit Kumar, a Delhi fire services official, told CNN. Survivors were taken to a nearby hospital.
Police investigating ‘from every angle’
Authorities will search surveillance cameras in the vicinity of the blast, according to Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, who has visited the site of the attack and met victims at the hospital.
“We are investigating the explosion from every angle,” Golcha, the Delhi police commissioner, added. “The situation is being regularly monitored.”
Footage of the aftermath showed streams of motorcyclists and passersby rushing toward the site of the blast, where huge, orange flames rose into the pitch-black sky. Residents recalled hearing a loud bang in the neighborhood.
“We heard a big sound. Our windows shook,” one resident who did not give a name told Indian broadcaster NDTV, according to Reuters.
Another resident saw the flames from his house. “There was a loud explosion. I live nearby,” Rajdhar Pandey told CNN affiliate CNN News-18.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences to the relatives of those killed. “May the injured recover at the earliest,” he said in a post on X.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh described the explosion as “painful and disturbing.”
“Praying for the speedy recovery of those injured,” he said on X.
This story and headline have been updated with additional developments.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
