What do experts say about Delhi Red Fort blast?published at 15:27 GMT 14 November
Shruti Menon
BBC Verify senior journalist, reporting from Delhi
We’ve been reviewing CCTV footage and speaking to experts to understand the nature of the blast near Delhi’s Red Fort on Monday.
The video shows a two-second flash and a fireball rising six to eight meters (20 to 26ft) into the air.
Three explosive-impact experts say the footage was characteristic of a low-intensity blast. But a fourth regards it as powerful, given one verified video shows it partially tore the roof off a nearby car.
Three of the four did not rule out the possibility a gas cylinder could have been involved.
Dr Sam Rigby, a blast protection engineering professor at the University of Sheffield, believes it could have been caused by a homemade device about the size of a “car boot or a suitcase”. He says the size of the fireball and other evidence indicates the explosive contained or set-off a large amount of combustible material.
That does not explain why no shrapnel was found at the scene, but experts say this alone cannot rule out the deliberate use of explosives over an accident.
Image source, ANI
Roger Warren, a security expert at Simon Fraser University, says the blast could still have involved a small homemade device which possibly then triggered gas cylinders or a petrol tank.
Professor Gareth Appleby-Thomas, an expert in materials for defence applications at Cranfield University, tells me the lack of shrapnel may simply mean the “device was only contained in a light platform or container”, rather than a heavily cased bomb.
He adds that there is not sufficient evidence in the video to make a conclusion about the source of the blast.
Authorities are continuing to investigate the incident.
