(Trigger warning: Some details can be disturbing.)
At least eight people were killed in a car explosion near Gate No. 1 of the Red Fort Metro Station in Delhi on Monday evening. The blast occurred around 6:52 pm on Subhash Marg, a busy arterial road near the historic Red Fort and Chandni Chowk market. Investigations are ongoing, with police and national security agencies at the site overnight.
Eyewitnesses and First Responders Describe What Happened
"One person's body was torn into pieces. I saw a hand on the road," Irfan, an eyewitness, told Press Trust of India, adding "I can't describe it in words; it was a very strong explosion".
Dharminder, a security guard who had just finished shopping in Chandni Chowk, said he ran toward the site along with two policemen. “We began pulling bodies out of the cars… I must have put four bodies in an ambulance,” he told The Indian Express. According to him, the vehicle involved was a private car bearing a Haryana registration number.
Another first responder was Mohsin Ali.
“As soon as the blast occurred, the car went up in pieces. There was a large crowd and people started running around. I saw people on the road with their legs split open and injuries to their hands and other parts of the body. I picked up an injured girl and placed her in an autorickshaw so that she could be rushed to the hospital," he told The Indian Express.
Dilshad Alam, a street vendor who has a stall nearby, said that the explosion initially felt like a "cylinder blast". He told The Indian Express that he rushed toward the area and, with the help of local e-rickshaw drivers, transported two injured men and two children to Lok Nayak Hospital.
Another eyewitness, Bhupender Singh, a resident of Noida, said that his vehicle was near the car that went off. “The traffic light had just turned green when the blast happened and I quickly left my vehicle and ran towards the market,” he said. Mr. Singh said that the intensity of the blast was so strong that people in the surroundings blew up into pieces," he told The Hindu.