A powerful bomb blast killed more than 70 people including women and children and wounded more than 180 here on Saturday, police and officials said. The powerful explosion demolished a two-storey building at a busy market near a neighbourhood inhabited by ethnic Hazaras in Quetta, said police chief Mir Zubair Mahmood. "The victims include children and women," Mahmood told reporters during a news conference. "The death toll might rise because several people are in critical condition."
Mahmood said up to 80 kilogramms of explosives had been packed in a water bowser. It was not immediately clear how the blast was triggered. Provincial home secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani told AFP that the dead included women and children. "We fear more casualties. We have announced an emergency in hospitals," he said.
Durrani said the bomb was planted near the pillar of a building in a bazaar. "The building collapsed due to the intensity of the bomb, some people have been trapped inside," he said. Officials and witnesses said an angry mob surrounded the area after the blast and were not allowing policemen, rescue workers and reporters to reach the site.
"They were angry and started a protest, some of them pelted police with stones," home secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani told AFP. "Some of them were armed and were firing gunshots in the air, now they have allowed police and rescue workers to reach on spot," he added. Television footage showed rescuers sifting through piles of bricks and concrete in search of survivors, as authorities feared people might be trapped underneath the rubble.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast. Banned extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has carried out several deadly attacks against Shias in recent months. Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf condemned the bombing and reiterated Pakistan's resolve to fight terrorism.
"Terrorists will not be able to subdue our will through such dastardly acts," Ashraf said in a statement. The Balochistan government announced a day of official mourning on Sunday, while Shia groups called for a strike. Quetta was placed under federal rule last month after two bombings killed at least 86 people.