New Delhi: Indian fire officers reported casualties on Monday after fire engulfed several vehicles near New Delhi's landmark Red Fort. The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.

The Press Trust of India news agency reported there had been a "blast" near a metro station in Old Delhi.

The Indian Express and Times of India newspapers both reported eight people had been killed. AFP was not able to immediatly verify the casualties.

Ambulances streamed into a nearby public hospital, carrying several injured people, AFP images showed.

The building was cordoned off amid a heavy police deployment as officers moved through the corridors.

Outside, anxious relatives gathered after hearing that their loved ones had been brought in.

Musarrat Ansari said her brother was injured after a burning car hit the motorbike he was riding.

"He called me and said his leg was hurt -- he couldn't walk," she said.

A fire department official told AFP told AFP that "about eight to 10 vehicles caught fire," adding that the blaze had been extinguished.

The Red Fort, which was completed under Moghul rule in 1648 and is located in the old quarters of Delhi, is one of India's most well-known landmarks.

Indian prime ministers address the nation from its ramparts on Independence Day, and it features on the largest banknote.

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