Security personnel near Red Fort in the wake of a blast which claimed the lives of at least 8 people and injured several, in New Delhi. (PTI Photo/Kamal Kishore)
NEW DELHI: The engagement ceremony of a young couple at Chandni Chowk’s Jain Sports Club continued amid confusion and disbelief on Monday evening — even as a powerful blast ripped through the nearby Red Fort area, less than 100 metres away, locals recalled.Click here for live updates on Delhi Red Fort blast
“It was just another day, another function. Everyone thought it was a transformer or something else. No one even stepped out to check,” recounted the security guard of the 1932-established club, where the celebrations were underway.He mentioned that he had been on duty until 6 pm and described the moments after the blast as “chaotic.”“Most of us assumed it was a cylinder burst. Who would imagine something of this scale could happen on such an ordinary day?” he told PTI.Also Read | Doctors’ terror web: How campuses became recruitment hubs, hid sleeper cellsThe explosion occurred outside Gate No. 1 of the Lal Qila (Red Fort) metro station at 6:52 pm, shaking the busy market area. A nearby merchant, who sells jewellery and watches, recalled that the celebrations briefly halted but soon resumed.“There were around 50 people preparing for the ceremony. When the blast happened, they stopped the DJ for a bit, looked around, and went back to celebrating. Most of us didn’t realise it was a bomb blast until we got home,” he recounted. Another man, who repairs watches from a stall barely a metre from the club’s gate, was at work when the explosion tore through the air.Also Read | ‘White-collar terror module, red car’: What’s emerging in Delhi blast probe – key points“I was fixing watches as usual when suddenly there was a deafening sound. Everyone froze, then turned off the music and looked around. I thought it was a transformer blast. I rushed home to Meerut early — I was terrified,” he shared.In the surrounding lanes, rickshaw pullers described how panic spread instantly.“As soon as the explosion happened, people jumped onto our rickshaws,” one driver recounted. “We pedalled as fast as we could toward the metro station. There was chaos — people shouting, pushing, trying to get inside. It felt like all hell broke loose.”Also Read | Delhi Red Fort blast probe: Doctor Nisar-ul-Hassan, fired by J&K governor for terror links in 2023, ‘taught’ at Faridabad’s Al-Falah UniversityThe high-intensity blast, which tore through a slow-moving Hyundai i20, gutted several vehicles and left multiple people critically injured. At least eight people were killed, officials confirmed. If verified as a terror strike, it would mark the first such attack in the national capital since 2011.
