Nine people were killed and 31 injured when a cache of confiscated explosives blew up at Nowgam Police Station in Indian Kashmir, the region's police chief said on Saturday, days after a car blast in New Delhi killed a dozen people.

The dead at Nowgam included policemen, government officials and forensic officers who were examining the cache, Nalin Prabhat, director general of police for the federally administered region of Jammu and Kashmir, told a news conference.

He said the cause of the explosion on Friday and the extent of the damage were under investigation but that an accident was likely.

Debris of Nowgam Police Station, 75km south of Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir. Nine officers were killed as a cache of explosives blew up during an inspection. Reuters Indian paramilitary soldiers arrive at Nowgam Police Station after an accidental explosion. Authorities said no 'militant suspicion' was attached to the deaths of nine people - officers and civilians - and injuries to nearly three dozen people. EPA After daylight, relatives came to mourn the dead during a wreath-laying ceremony for the deceased officers at Nowgam, Indian-controlled Kashmir. AP Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir and a member of India's ruling BJP, pays tribute during a wreath laying ceremony for the deceased in an accidental blast at Nowgam Police Station, south of Srinagar. AFP Relatives of Mohammad Shafi Parry, a civilian worker who died in an accidental explosion at Nowgam Police Station, wait for his body at his home on the outskirts of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir. EPA Indian security forces arrive near the site of an explosion inside a police station in Nowgam, south of Srinagar. Reuters Indian security forces stand at a barricade near the site of an explosion inside a police station near Srinagar, Indian Kashmir. Reuters Indian policemen patrol near Nowgam Police Station. EPA An ambulance leaves the site of an explosion inside a police station in Nowgam, Indian-controlled Kashmir. AP Relatives of the victims who died in an accidental blast at Nowgam Police Station await the release of bodies of the deceased. AFP Members of the State Disaster Response Force near the site of an explosion inside a police station at Nowgam, where nine people were killed. AP Indian paramilitary soldiers on guard near Nowgam Police Station.