The Rameshwaram Cafe.
Credit: Instagram/@therameshwaramcafe
Bengaluru: Traffic came to a standstill on Kundalahalli Main Road on Friday afternoon owing to an explosion that occurred at the popular Rameshwaram Cafe at Brookfield.
The blast that occurred between 1.30 pm and 2 pm, according to police reports, injured eight people, including a customer.
The cafe is situated on a road that serves as a crucial link connecting the HAL Old Airport Road and Brookefield to the Seetharam Palya and Kundalahalli metro stations, Hoodi and beyond.
Immediately, curious onlookers flooded the road that is lined with residential homes and apartments, corporate offices, and shopping areas, as fire tenders, ambulances and police vehicles rushed to the spot, choking the road. Emergency service vehicles had to squeeze their way through the traffic.
Slow-moving traffic was reported all the way till Kundalahalli metro station, which is about 1.6 km away. "Traffic is inching very slowly; the vehicles are barely moving. It took me a while to get an auto-rickshaw to cross this stretch of the road," said Sharadha, a private firm employee passing by the area.
Since tomorrow is the weekend, the traffic situation can get worse in the evening if the area remains cordoned off while the police continue their investigations.
"Traffic is moving slowly today but it hasn't stopped. We have not issued any diversions but have deployed a sub-inspector with two constables. The inspector is also visiting the spot. I don't expect any issues with traffic movement tomorrow since the office crowd will not be there," said Kuldeep Kumar Jain, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic East).