Fifteen people have been injured after two men walked into an Indian restaurant and set off a bomb, Canadian police say.

The male suspects fled the scene after detonating what police have described as an "improvised explosive device" inside the Bombay Bhel restaurant in Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto, on Thursday at about 10.30pm (3.30am UK time).

"There is no indication that this is a terrorism act. There is no indication that this is a hate crime at this time. We haven't ruled anything out as we start our investigation," said police chief Jennifer Evans.

"Every police resource is being used right now to locate the people responsible for this horrendous act."

She said there were two separate parties going on inside the restaurant at the time and children under the age of 10 were there but were not injured. She added the blast caused a lot of damage.


Sergeant Matt Bertram told The New York Times the men put down what appeared to be a paint can or bucket which exploded after they had gone. It was filled with "projectable objects", he said.

Image: The blast was at the Bombay Bhel restaurant in Toronto

The wounded, aged between 23 and 69, were taken to hospital after the explosion. Three suffered critical injuries and were taken to Toronto Trauma Centre for treatment, where their condition was said to be stable.

TV footage showed an injured woman limping away from the restaurant.

The plaza where the restaurant is situated remained sealed off on Friday as emergency services continued to investigate the blast and tried to establish a motive for the attack.

A witness, Andre Larrivee, told the Globe and Mail newspaper that he was watching television in his home when he heard the "really loud" blast.

Rafael Conceicao, a student from Sao Paulo, Brazil, was also near the restaurant when the bomb went off.

He said: "Glass was broken in the street. There was a child's party. A birthday party. Everything was destroyed. Lots of blood in the floor. Many people were screaming."

Police hunting the attackers asked for the public's help and posted an image of the two male suspects on Twitter. One appeared to be carrying an object in his right hand.

Image: Fifteen people have been injured, three of them critically

The first is described as 5ft 10ins to 6ft tall, of stocky build, in his mid-20s with light skin and was wearing dark blue jeans, a dark zip-up hoodie pulled over his head, a baseball cap underneath with a light grey peak and had his face covered with black material.

The second suspect is understood to be a little shorter, fair skinned, of thin build and was wearing faded blue jeans, a dark zip-up hoodie with the hood also pulled over his head, a grey t-shirt, dark coloured skate shoes and his face was covered as well.

Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie said she was thankful there were no fatalities.

"This is certainly not anything you would expect to happen in Mississauga, not my Mississauga. This is not the Mississauga I know," she said. "This is a heinous crime that has been committed."

Image: Police say the two suspects fled the scene

Sergeant Bertram said: "We have no indication to call it a hate crime or any kind of terrorism act.

"Nothing was said by these individuals. It appears they just went in, dropped off this device, and took off right away."

He said officers were yet to determine the specifics of the device used.

"Different callers called in and said it was firecrackers or some said gunshot sort of noises. I don't think it was an explosion that was rocking anything.

"Until we can get in there and analyse the material after the search warrant we won't be able to say what it was," he added.

The attack in Canada's sixth-largest city comes a month after 10 people were killed in Toronto when a man drove his rented van into a lunch-hour crowd on a busy street. Fifteen others were injured.