One witness says he heard a huge explosion, before coming upon a chaotic scene of broken glass and bloodied diners at a Mississauga Indian restaurant.
Peel Regional Police allege two disguised men entered the Bombay Bhel restaurant, near a major Mississauga, Ont. intersection, planted an improvised explosive device and then fled. Moments later, at around 10:30 p.m. the device detonated, injuring at least 15 people.
Nobody was killed, but when international student Rafael Concaceicao raced to the scene from a nearby patio, he saw a number of people who were bleeding and one man who appeared to have glass lodged in his eye, he said.
"Glass was broken in the street … everything was destroyed. Lots of blood in the floor," Concaceicao told CBC Toronto.
"Many people were screaming. They were trying to run out from the restaurant."
Paramedics wheeled a number of people away on stretchers. Others limped away. Amid the flashing lights, one woman comforted an infant in the back seat of a police cruiser.
In a Facebook post, the restaurant's ownership described the situation as "extremely horrific and sad."
Major police response
Andre Larrivee, who lives in a nearby condominium, was watching TV when he heard the blast.
"It was really loud," he said, comparing it to the sound of an electric generator that had exploded at a nearby construction site recently.
Jess Dalessandro pulled into the parking lot to go to a nearby Shoppers Drug Mart moments after the blast and watched as police and paramedics descended on the plaza at Hurontario Street and Eglinton Avenue East.
She describes a sense of calm among the chaos. "No one was freaking out," she said.
However, Dalessandro began realizing the seriousness of the incident as police quickly cordoned off the entire area. Officers still won't let her move her truck out of the parking lot.
Police still haven't stated a motive for the attack.
Investigators were seen photographing footprints in a nearby subdivision that may belong to the two bombing suspects.