Nine people have been killed and 32 injured after a stockpile of confiscated explosives accidentally blew up at a police station in Indian-administered Kashmir, police said.
This tragic event comes just days after a car blast killed several people in Delhi, which the government has identified as a 'terror incident'.
The explosion occurred on Friday evening at Nowgam police station, with explosives that had been seized from Faridabad in the northern state of Haryana earlier that week.
The director general of police for the region, Nalin Prabhat, stated that the explosives were meant for forensic examination, but a 'very unfortunate' mishap during handling led to the detonation around 23:20 local time (17:50 GMT).
Authorities clarified that the explosion was an accident rather than a terrorist attack, with the police chief urging against unnecessary speculation regarding the incident's cause.
The explosion caused significant damage to the police station and nearby structures, with reports of vehicles being engulfed in flames and debris scattered across the site. The intensity of the blast was so severe that body parts were found up to 200 meters away.
The majority of the victims were police officers, alongside forensic personnel, two crime scene photographers, and a tailor present at the scene. Manoj Sinha, the Lieutenant Governor of the region, expressed his condolences and ordered an investigation into the incident to determine its cause. Sinha conveyed his sorrow over the loss of lives due to this tragic accident on social media.
