TORONTO — Canadian police were looking for two men who walked into a crowded restaurant Thursday night and detonated a bomb, wounding 15 people, but police said Friday that the incident did not appear to be a hate crime or linked to international terrorism.
The blast went off in a popular Indian restaurant in Mississauga, a city west of Toronto, about 10:30 p.m. Thursday. Security camera footage showed two men entering the restaurant, one carrying an object.
“There’s no indication this is a terrorist act, no indication this is a hate crime at this time,” Peel Police Chief Jennifer Evans told reporters Friday.
The explosion caused “a considerable amount of damage,” Evans said, adding that there were two private birthday parties at the restaurant at the time, with children under 10 in attendance. There were no children among the wounded.
Three people were initially listed in critical condition, but by Friday morning their conditions had been upgraded to stable, Evans said. An additional 12 people ranging in age from 23 to 69 suffered minor injuries.
The two men fled after detonating the improvised explosive device, police said. No one has claimed responsibility, and the motive for the attack is not known.
Kul Prasad Sapkota said he was shocked to wake up to news that someone had detonated a bomb in the restaurant that he had known intimately during his six years as a chef there until 2016.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a post on Twitter: “We’re in solidarity with the victims of this violence, and wish a swift recovery to the injured. We’re working closely with police and officials in Mississauga on this.”
The blast comes a month after a driver deliberately plowed a white Ryder rental van into a lunch-hour crowd in Toronto, killing 10 people and wounding 16.
“These are shocking incidents, made all the more shocking because they have been unusual in our society,” Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne told reporters Friday.
