Huge car bomb rocks Kashmir
At least two people have been reported killed and 40 others wounded in a car bomb explosion in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian administered Kashmir.
The bomb exploded during the morning rush hour near a busy intersection on Wednesday, damaging several police and private vehicles.
It occurred near a traffic crossing outside a private clinic at 10.45am in Srinagar’s Lal Mandi-Gogji Bagh area, police officer H K Lohia said.
A member of India’s Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), one of several security forces combating a 16-year-old rebellion, was among those killed.
A spokesperson for the CRPF said a senior officer was among the injured. He added that most of the wounded were civilians.
Massive explosion
Officials, who described the blast as massive, said the toll could rise as the conditions of some of the injured were “very critical”.
“This is one of the most powerful explosions I have ever seen,” said another police officer, who was among the first few to reach the scene.
Police and witnesses said three passing CRPF vehicles, a jeep carrying some local officials and several shops, were all destroyed.
Searching for assailants
Soon after the incident, police and paramilitary forces sealed off the area.
“We are searching for the terrorists responsible for the bloody explosion,” Lohia said.