NEW DELHI, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Explosives placed in a briefcase went off Wednesday outside an Indian high court in New Delhi, killing and wounding dozens of people, authorities said.
The Times of India reported at least 11 people died and 62 were wounded in the blast outside one of the gates of the packed court in the Indian capital, not far from Parliament and the office of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
A failed car bomb blast occurred at the same site May 25, causing no injuries.
Secretary R.K. Singh, the top official in India's Home Ministry, told reporters the explosives were in a briefcase left in the court's reception area, which was filled with people attending court. Wednesdays are an especially busy hearing day.
The Hindustan Times reported Singh, when asked if the blast was the work of terrorists, replied it had "all the makings of an improvised explosive device set up by a terror group."
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Television channels showed ambulances carrying the injured to various hospitals. Firefighters were also at the scene and the capital's subway stations were put on alert.
Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram announced the National Investigative Agency has been asked to take over the case, the Hindustan Times reported.
Authorities told reporters they had no prior intelligence about the blast and the home ministry said the terrorists behind the attack had yet to be identified.
Singh, who was visiting neighboring Bangladesh, condemned the attack, the 19th in the capital since 1996, as cowardly.
