15 injured in Agra hospital blast, UP on high alert

LUCKNOW: At least 15 people were injured in a blast at Jai hospital in Agra on Saturday evening. The explosion took place at the waiting room near the reception of the hospital.

The blast shattered the windowpanes of the reception and set off panic among the people. The hospital is located around two km from the Taj Mahal and is on the Agra-Delhi highway.

Patients were evacuated from the hospital and police cordoned off the entire area and conducted an intensive combing operation.

"The explosive was kept under a chair. The blast has badly damaged the room", said IGP, Agra Range, PK Tiwari. He added that it was too early to say if it was a terror attack.

"Anti-Terror Squad team has been rushed to Agra," DGP (Law & Order) Brij Lal told reporters in Lucknow. "Forensic team have also reached the site of blast," he added.

Agra police said that it was a low intensity blast. Several tiffin boxes have been found from the site. A bag and nine volt battery has also been recovered.

Around 97 patients were there in the hospital at the time of blast. The security has been beefed up in and around sensitive areas of Agra. Entire state has also been put on alert.