Following an apparent blast near the Israeli embassy in New Delhi Tuesday, Indian authorities are currently looking into an incident involving no casualties. After the late afternoon explosion, police immediately sealed off the embassy compound and thoroughly searched for clues among neighbouring buildings. So while officials continue their inspection, the area is again open to the public at large. As yet there have been no reports of injuries among bystanders.
In a statement, Israel’s foreign ministry acknowledged the incident, saying that there had been an explosion near the embassy. Israeli Embassy spokesperson Guy Nir informed Reuters that the blast occurred around 5:20 PM close to the embassy. reassured that all embassy personnel and diplomats were safe, deputy head of mission in New Delhi Israel mentioned further investigations by their security teams would be done together with local Delhi authorities.
Teju Chitri, a security guard at an adjacent government languages training institute, said he heard the explosion in the tightly regulated neighbourhood which is dominated by government buildings and diplomatic missions. Chitri recalls seeing smoke near a tree after the blast.
But after a three-hour comprehensive search operation, officials involved in the investigation have told Reuters that they found nothing of interest. The incident recalls an earlier occurrence in January 2021 when a small bomb exploded close to the Israeli embassy in New Delhi, also with no injuries. Israeli officials at the time treated it as a terrorist blast.
This incident also shows how important it is to respond quickly and in a coordinated fashion. Investigators are still looking into what caused the blast and emphasise that every effort is being made to protect the safety of diplomatic missions in the region.
