Explosions shake Indian capital

Five suspected bomb blasts have been reported within minutes of each other in markets in India’s capital, Delhi.

At least seven people were killed in the blasts, police said, while at least 30 people are said to have been hurt.

The explosions are not thought to have been very powerful but they happened in areas crowded with evening shoppers.

The exact cause of the blasts is not known but bombs are suspected. Crude explosives have been detonated in several Indian cities recently.

More than 400 people have died in separate attacks since October 2005, with the cities of Ahmedabad and Jaipur among those hit.

India has blamed Islamist militant groups for these previous bombings.

Two of the latest blasts in Delhi are believed to have happened metres away from each other in the central shopping district of Connaught Place.

Another blast took place in a market in the Greater Kailash area in south Delhi.

A BBC producer who visited the scene said a low-intensity explosion had scattered glass over a large area, near a popular cafe.

Two of the other explosions were reported in Delhi’s Karol Bagh area and on the Barakhamba Road.