QUETTA: Five persons were killed and over 30 others including women and children were injured in an explosion here on Friday.
Police said that three people died on the spot in the blast that took place at Almo Chowk of the provincial capital Quetta while 30 were left injured. The injured were taken to Civil Hospital Quetta where two more succumbed to their wounds raising death toll to five. Several others were reportedly in critical conditions and it is feared that the death toll could rise even further.
Police, Frontier Corps personnel and rescue teams reached the site of the explosion and an investigation was underway.
The blast went off outside a shop in the crowded Almo Chowk market when locals were busy in Ramazan and pre-Eid shopping. The bomb was planted on a bicycle and five to six kilograms explosive material was used in the remote control bomb, officials said.
The explosion damaged windows and walls of nearby shops and homes in the marginalized neighbourhood.
Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif strongly condemned the blast and directed the concerned authorities to provide special medical care to the injured.
