Toronto: Canadian police on Friday hunted two men after a blast at an Indian restaurant near Toronto injured 15 people, but police said there were no initial signs of terrorism.
An improvised device detonated on Thursday night at the eatery in Mississauga, a major suburb west of Toronto, while two parties celebrated birthdays, Peel Regional Police Chief Jennifer Evans told a news conference.
"Two men wearing hoodies were seen entering the restaurant with an IED," or improvised device, she said. "The men were seen fleeing the scene immediately following the explosion."
The men did not say anything, just dropped off the device and left, authorities said earlier.
"Every police resource is being used right now to locate the people responsible for this horrendous act," Evans added, giving the number of injured as 15.
Three of them - a 35-year-old man and two women, aged 48 and 62 - were taken by ambulance to hospital in critical condition, and were listed as stable on Friday morning.
Other victims were treated for minor injuries after the blast at the Bombay Bhel restaurant. "This is a heinous crime," Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie said.
So far there is "no indication this is a terrorist act, no indication this is a hate crime," said police chief Evans, who added: "We haven't ruled anything out as we start our investigation."
The Toronto metropolitan area has a sizeable population with Indian origins.
Earlier, the Peel Regional Police said the bombers were male, wore dark sweatshirts with their hoods pulled up and had covered their faces.
2 suspects attended the scene, detonated an Improvised Explosive Device within the restaurant. Several injured were taken to local hospital and 3 in critical condition were taken to a Toronto Trauma Centre. pic.twitter.com/yzCT59UVN6
— Peel Regional Police (@PeelPoliceMedia) 25 May 2018
Mississauga, on Lake Ontario, is home to more than 700,000 people, including a large immigrant population, and is the sixth-largest municipality in Canada.
The explosion comes just a month after the driver of a van plowed into pedestrians in Toronto, killing 10 people and injuring 14 more. The suspect in that attack, Alek Minassian, intentionally struck the victims in what was likely to count as Canada's deadliest vehicular assault, the police said.
The police did not know of a motive for Thursday night's attack.
@Peel_Paramedics have transported 15 pts. from The Bombay Bhel restaurant in Mississauga. 3 pts. were taken to trauma centres with critical blast injuries. pic.twitter.com/Qhd9mX2wV7
— Peel Paramedics (@Peel_Paramedics) 25 May 2018
The restaurant is at the corner of a low-rise mall that takes up half a city block, and the area was sealed after the explosion. Photos posted on social media showed armed police at the scene with sniffer dogs, and television footage showed an injured woman limping away from the restaurant after the blast.
The street where the restaurant is located, Hurontario Street, is the main thoroughfare of Mississauga, a sprawling suburban city that is home to many people working in Toronto.
