At least nine people were killed and 27 injured when a pile of confiscated explosives blew up at a police station in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the region's police chief said on Saturday, days after a car blast in New Delhi killed eight people.
The dead included police and government officials and forensic staff who were examining the explosives at the time, Nalin Prabhat, director general of police for the federally administered region of Jammu and Kashmir, told a news conference.
He said the cause of the blast late on Friday and the extent of the damage were being investigated.
Indicating there was no militant involvement in the incident, Prabhat said forensic and chemical examinations of previously recovered explosive materials were underway when "an accidental explosion" occurred on Friday night.
"Any other speculation into the cause of this incident is unnecessary," he said.
At least nine people have been killed after a cache of confiscated explosives detonated in a police station in Srinagar. Source: AAP / Saqib Majeed / SOPA Images / Sipa USA
"The intensity of the blast was such that some body parts were recovered from nearby houses, around 100-200 metres away from the police station," the source said.
Earlier, a local police official told Reuters an explosion had ripped through Nowgam police station. The official said fire had engulfed the compound and fire tenders had been rushed to the spot.
Earlier, a local police official told Reuters an explosion had ripped through Nowgam police station. The official said fire had engulfed the compound and fire tenders had been rushed to the spot.
The blast comes four days after a deadly car explosion in the Indian capital of New Delhi killed at least eight people in what the government has called a terror incident.
Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan have for decades fought periodic wars over the disputed region of Kashmir, which they both claim in full and rule only in part.
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