Hunt on for suspects in Canada restaurant blast

Police in Canada on Friday hunted for two men believed to have detonated explosives at an Indian restaurant near Toronto, wounding 15 people, but police said there was no indication the blast was an act of terror.

The explosion late Thursday at the Bombay Bhel restaurant in Missasauga in Toronto’s western suburbs, which was reportedly felt more than four kilometers (2.5 miles) away, also did not appear to be a hate crime, authorities said.

“Two men wearing hoodies were seen entering the restaurant with an IED,” or improvised explosive device, Peel Regional Police Chief Jennifer Evans told a news conference.

“The men were seen fleeing the scene immediately following the explosion,” Evans added. “Every police resource is being used right now to locate the people responsible for this horrendous act.”

Evans added: “We haven’t ruled anything out as we start our investigation.”

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said there was “no connection to national security at this point.”

The pair, who were also wearing jeans and face coverings, did not say anything in the restaurant, where two birthdays were being celebrated. They just dropped off the device and left, authorities said.

The incident is nevertheless likely to provoke jitters in the nation’s biggest metropolitan area — it comes just one month after a man in a rented van plowed into pedestrians on a crowded sidewalk in Toronto, killing 10 people. (AFP)