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Today's Paper | December 19, 2024

Updated 26 Dec, 2023 09:48pm

Blast near Israeli embassy in New Delhi, all staff unharmed

Indian police were investigating reports of a blast near the Israeli embassy in New Delhi on Tuesday that did not cause any casualties.

Officers cordoned off the embassy as they combed through the surrounding areas following the report of the late afternoon blast. Officials were still inspecting the area but it was reopened to the general public. There was no information suggesting anyone on the street had been hurt.

Israel’s foreign ministry in a statement reported “an explosion” near the embassy.

“We can confirm that around 5:20 there was a blast at close proximity to the embassy,” Israeli Embassy spokesperson Guy Nir told Reuters.

“This evening… an explosion occurred in close proximity to the embassy,” Ohad Nakash Kaynar, Israel’s deputy head of mission in New Delhi said in a statement.

“All our workers are safe, all our diplomats are safe. Our security teams are working in full cooperation with the local Delhi security, and they will investigate the matter further.”

Teju Chitri, a security guard working at a nearby government languages training institute, told the Press Trust of India news agency that he heard the explosion, which took place in a tightly controlled neighbourhood home to government buildings and diplomatic missions.

“I heard a blast … I came outside and saw smoke coming out from near a tree,” Chitri said.

Nothing was found in the search operation three hours after the blast, an official involved in the investigation told Reuters.

In January 2021, a small bomb went off near the Israeli embassy in New Delhi without harming anyone. An Israeli official said at the time that Israel was treating the blast as a terrorist incident.

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