Fifteen people were injured after an improvised explosives devices were detonated inside a restaurant in Mississauga, a Canadian city close Toronto.
About 15 people were taken to hospital after the blast at the Bombay Bhel restaurant, which occured around 10:30pm local time on Thursday.
Three people understood to be Indian-Canadians, whose injuries were initially described as ‘critical’ by the Peel regional paramedic service, were later said to be in stable condition.
Peel regional police said on Twitter that two men in their mid-20s had detonated an improvised explosive device inside the restaurant. The men, whose faces had been covered, fled the scene shortly after dropping the device.
“We have no indication to call it a hate crime or any kind of terrorism act,” said Sgt Matt Bertram.
“Nothing was said by these individuals,” he added. “It appears they just went in, dropped off this device, and took off right away.”
Police posted a photograph on Twitter that appears to show two people with dark zip-up hoodies walking in with one of them carrying something. It was too early to determine what the device was, said Bertram.
“Different callers called in and said it was firecrackers or some said gunshot sort of noises. I don’t think it was an explosion that was rocking anything,” he said, Associated Press reported. “Until we can get in there and analyse the material after the search warrant we won’t be able to say what it was.
Roads in the area were closed and a large police presence was at the scene, with heavily armed tactical officers arriving as part of the large emergency response, local media reported.
Police are looking for the two suspects, so it’s an ongoing crime scene investigation.
Mississauga, Canada’s sixth-largest city, with a population of 700,000, lies about 20 miles (32km) west of Toronto.
