Eight people have been killed after an explosion near New Delhi’s 17th Century Red Fort, Indian police say.
The Red Fort area, in the Indian capital’s Old Delhi, is a densely populated part of the city popular with tourists.
Footage on local television shows flames and smoke billowing from one vehicles on a street crowded with pedestrians near a metro station.
Delhi police spokesperson Sanjay Tyagi said the explosion appeared to come from a car parked out the front of the site.
“We are investigating the cause of the blast,” he told the Associated Press.
The Red Fort is a hugely popular tourist attraction in Old Delhi. (Reuters: Altaf Hussain)
The Indian capital has been placed on high alert following the blast, local media has reported.
At least six vehicles and three autorickshaws caught fire, Delhi’s deputy fire chief said.
He said the flames had been doused by firefighting teams.
“We heard a big sound, our windows shook,” one resident who did not give a name, told NDTV.
Police tried to clear crowds that gathered around the site of the incident.
Authorities say the blast appeared to come from a car parked in the area. (Reuters)
Ambulances streamed into a nearby public hospital, carrying several injured people, images from news agency AFP showed.
The building was cordoned off amid a heavy police deployment as officers moved through the corridors.
Outside, anxious relatives gathered after hearing that their loved ones had been brought in.
One woman, Musarrat Ansari, said her brother was injured after a burning car hit the motorbike he was riding.
“He called me and said his leg was hurt — he couldn’t walk,” she said.
The Red Fort, which was completed under Moghul rule in 1648 and is located in the old quarters of Delhi, is one of India’s most well-known landmarks.
Indian prime ministers address the nation from its ramparts on Independence Day, and it features on the largest banknote.
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