MUMBAI: Eight people were killed and more than 20 others injured in a terror attack in the Indian city of Pune, police and the government said Saturday.

The blast took place at the German Bakery in the Koregaon Park area of the city at about 6.30 pm (1300 GMT). The bakery is an established eatery and popular with foreigners.

"It's a terror attack. A CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) team is being sent to Pune," home secretary G.K. Pillai was quoted as saying by the domestic Press Trust of India news agency.

PTI quoted an unnamed official source as saying the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device.

A Maharashtra state police said an investigation was under way to establish the cause of the explosion and told AFP: "There has been a cylinder blast. We have eight people dead and 22 injured."

Indian media reported that a number of foreigners were among the dead and the toll of injured could rise.

The bakery is located near Chabad House, a Jewish cultural and religious centre run by the orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch movement whose members were targeted in the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai.

Pune is about 100 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of Mumbai.

One foreigner killed in Indian bomb blast: government

MUMBAI: One foreign national was among eight people killed in a bomb blast in the western Indian city of Pune, the government said Saturday.

"We have confirmed one foreigner dead and one foreigner injured. The nationality is not yet determined. The rest are believed to be Indians," home secretary G.K. Pillai told reporters.

Pillai was quoted earlier by PTI as saying that it was a terror attack.

The attack took place at the German Bakery -- an established eatery in the Koregaon Park area of the city and popular with foreigners -- at about 7.30 pm (1400 GMT), he said.

The location is near the Osho Ashram or religious retreat, which is also frequented by overseas visitors, and Chabad House, a Jewish cultural and religious centre run by the orthodox Chabad-Lubavitch movement.

Pillai said that a waiter went to open an unattended package left at the restaurant when the blast occurred. A total of 32 people were also injured in the explosion.

The minister added: "It may be noted that the Osho Ashram, which was around 200 yards (180 metres) from the bakery, was one of the sites surveyed by Lashkar-e-Taiba operative David Headley."

Headley, a US-Pakistani national, is currently awaiting trial in the United States, accused of having surveyed possible sites for the banned, Pakistan-based Islamist group, which is blamed for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

A total of 166 people, including 25 foreigners died, and more than 300 others were injured in the strikes on two luxury hotels, the city's main railway station, a popular tourist restaurant and another Chabad House.

Pune is about 100 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of Mumbai.

All state governments in Indian have been put on high alert while people have been told not to approach suspicious packages, Pillai said.

Forensic teams and detectives from the state anti-terrorism squad and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have been sent to the scene to investigate the blast, he added.