Eight killed in explosion near Red Fort in India's Delhi
"All angles" are being investigated and security agencies will come to a conclusion soon, says Federal Home Minister Amit Shah.
Security personnel stand beside charred vehicles after an explosion near the Red Fort in the old quarters of Delhi on Nov 10, 2025. (Photo: AFP/Sajjad Hussain)
NEW DELHI: At least eight people were killed and 20 injured on Monday (Nov 10) when a car exploded near the historic Red Fort in India's capital Delhi, police said, a rare blast in the heavily guarded city of more than 30 million people.
Major train stations across India, the financial capital Mumbai and the state of Uttar Pradesh, which borders Delhi, were all put on high alert, authorities said.
"All angles" were being investigated and security agencies would come to a conclusion soon, Federal Home Minister Amit Shah said.
Forensic and anti-terrorism agencies were at the site, near the landmark Red Fort, said the police.
A previous owner of the car, named only as Salman, was arrested after the blast, NDTV reported, without going into more details. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
CAR STOPPED AT RED LIGHT
Mangled bodies and the wreckage of several cars could be seen on a congested street near a metro station in the old quarter of Delhi, as police poured into the area to secure it and push back gathering crowds.
"A slow-moving vehicle stopped at a red light. An explosion happened in that vehicle, and due to the explosion, nearby vehicles were also damaged," Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha told reporters.
He said the blast occurred just before 7pm (9.30pm, Singapore time).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to those who had lost loved ones.
"May the injured recover at the earliest. Those affected are being assisted by authorities," Modi posted on X.
At least six vehicles and three auto-rickshaws caught fire, Delhi's deputy fire chief said.
"INTENSE EXPLOSION"
People near the scene described hearing a loud explosion.
"I was at the metro station, going down the stairs, when I heard an explosion. I turned around and saw a fire. People started running helter-skelter," one woman, Suman Mishra, said.
Wali Ur Rehman said he was sitting at his shop. "I fell from the impact of the explosion, it was that intense," he told news agency ANI, in which Reuters has a minority stake.
About 30 to 40 ambulances were near the site of the blast and the entire area was cordoned off after the fire was put out, a Reuters reporter said.
The United States Embassy in Delhi issued a security alert to its citizens, asking them to avoid crowds and areas surrounding the Red Fort, and to stay alert in places frequented by tourists.
At the city's LNJP hospital, the emergency ward was chaotic as injured people streamed in and doctors rushed to attend to them.
A woman broke down outside the ward where her husband was being treated. "I can't bear to see him like that," she said, as her brother tried to console her.
DELHI TARGETED IN THE PAST
The Red Fort, known locally as Lal Qila, is a sprawling, 17th-century Mughal-era edifice melding Persian and Indian architectural styles, and is visited by tourists throughout the year.
The prime minister addresses the nation from the fort's ramparts every year on Aug 15, India's Independence Day.
Delhi was the target of blasts during the 1980s and 1990s, with public places such as bus stations and crowded market areas hit in attacks blamed on Islamist militants or on separatists from the northern Sikh state of Punjab.
About a dozen people were killed in a briefcase explosion outside the Delhi High Court in 2011 - the last such major incident in the city.
Security in the national capital is the responsibility of the federal home ministry. Delhi police report directly to it, though the capital territory also has its own local government.
