At 6:52 pm, a car stopped at red light in front of Red Fort, then blast, mayhem: Blow-by-blow account of Delhi explosion

AT crown hours in a massively crowded country in perhaps the to the highest degree famous holidaymaker country in Delhi, when a car stopped at the red light near the metro station gate in front of Red Fort. It had been moving slow. The time was 6:52 pm when it stopped at the traffic signal. Then, it exploded.Several people nearby were blown apart, their body parts strewn. Multiple cars caught fire, and windowpanes were blown, buildings shook. Eight deaths were reported so far, and the reason for the car blast remained under investigation.After the high-intensity blast, it took three minutes for someone to call the fire brigade.The call came in at 6:55 pm, said the Delhi Fire Department.“CALL TYPE: Some kind of Blast and Vehicle Fire, ADDRESS: Lal Qila metro Station Gate No.1 near Gauri Shankar Mandir Some kind of Blast and Vehicle Fire,” its brief read.The facade of the fort proper are several metres from the spot, but its lawns are right across the road.Reasons yet unknown — fears and speculation peaking — cops from Delhi Police and some central agencies reached the spot.By 7:34, one death was confirmed. Twenty minutes later, news came in from the LNJP Hospital nearby. The toll was eight by 8 pm.High alert was, meanwhile, sounded across the national capital after the explosion near the Mughal-era sandstone fort that's a symbol of government in India for centuries, and from which the Prime Minister speaks on August 15, India's Independence Day.Multiple big cities such as Mumbai and Kolkata were out on alert immediately, and then the entire states of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan followed.Back at the spot, officers from the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is tasked with probing terrorism-related and other crimes that affect national security, also reached.Forensic evidence was being gathered as social media went abuzz recalling major blasts in Delhi, including the most recent terror attack outside the high court in 2011 and the serial blasts that occurred almost to the day 20 years ago. There was more immediate feed for the fear too — a massive terror module busted in neighbouring Faridabad, Haryana, just hours earlier on Monday.PM Narendra Modi had spoke to home minister Amit Shah, who was constantly in touch by now with Delhi Police Commissioner Satish Golcha.“Today, at around 6.52 PM, a slow-moving vehicle stopped at the red light. An explosion happened in that vehicle, and due to the explosion, nearby vehicles were also damaged,” the commissioner told reporters."All agencies, FSL, NIA, are here... The situation is being monitored. The home minister also called us, and information is being shared with him from time to time," Golcha added.