Blast at Bengaluru cafe injures 8

@ANI/ X

At least eight people were injured when a suspected home-made bomb exploded during lunch hour at a cafe in India's technology hub of Bengaluru on Friday.

The blast at Rameshwaram Cafe in the east of the city occurred just after 1:00 pm when crowds from nearby offices were lined up for a quick meal.

"It seems someone kept a bag and left and it exploded ... it was not a big explosion," Siddaramaiah, the chief minister of Karnataka state of which Bengaluru is the capital, told reporters.

Investigators suspect it was an improvised explosive device, said Siddaramaiah, who uses only one name, adding that eight people were injured.

State Home (interior) Minister G. Parameshwara said all the injured were in hospital and none of them were in danger.

Divya Raghavendra Rao, co-founder and managing director of the cafe chain, said she was told there were two explosions within 10 seconds of each other.

"It happened in the area where customers wash their hands ... something that was kept in a bag exploded," Rao told the local TV9 news channel.

The cafe had given its CCTV footage to help police investigate the cause of the blast, she said.

Mobile camera videos shot soon after the blast, and aired by local TV channels, showed a cloud of smoke in the restaurant and one employee walking away with his hands covering his ears.

Some injured men were being helped to walk away by employees, their hands wrapped in bandages. A pillar inside the cafe was damaged from the impact of the explosion.

More from International news

News

  • H.H. Sheikh Hamdan approves Umm Suqeim Beach master plan

    His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai has approved a AED500 million development plan to transform Umm Suqeim Beach into a major new public waterfront destination.

  • UAE FM condemns Israel’s repeated violations of ceasefire in Gaza

    The UAE's Foreign Minister joined with the Foreign Ministers of Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, on Sunday, to strongly condemn Israel’s repeated violations of the ceasefire in Gaza which have resulted in the killing, and injuring of more than a thousand Palestinians.

  • UAE, World Food Programme sign deal to support Sudan aid efforts

    The United Arab Emirates has signed a cooperation agreement between the UAE Aid Agency and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to support humanitarian response efforts in Sudan.