Suspected bomb blast at hospital in northern India injures several people

A suspected bomb exploded at a hospital in the northern Indian city of Agra on Saturday injuring several people, witnesses said, though no deaths were immediately reported.

The blast came less than two weeks after a powerful bomb in a briefcase ripped through a crowd outside New Delhi's High Court, killing 15 people and wounding dozens of others, many of them waiting for legal hearings.

Police inspector-general P.K. Tiwari said preliminary investigations suggested the explosion was caused by a crude bomb placed under a seat in the reception area of the hospital, according to the Press Trust of India news agency. "The blast took place in the reception where explosives were kept under a chair," Tiwari was quoted as saying, adding it was too early to say if it was a "terror attack."

The Press Trust of India reported that six people had been injured in the blast. A team from the police anti-terror squad had been sent to the hospital, Additional Director General of Police Brij Lal told the Press Trust of India.

The Agra blast came a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke of the "uncertain" security situation in India following a string of bombings. "The security environment in the country continues to be uncertain," Singh told a gathering of senior police officers from around the country on Friday.