At least eight people were killed while 12 others sustained injuries when a blast hit a market area in Pakistan’s Quetta on Friday morning, officials and local reports said.
While confirming the death toll, Deputy Inspector General of Police Abdul Razzaq Cheema told local reporters that the explosion occurred in Hazarganji area of Quetta.
One paramilitary Frontier Corps soldier was among those killed in the blast.
Police, rescue teams and additional contingents of security forces rushed to the site following the blast and shifted the bodies and injured to a nearby hospital, police sources said.
Death toll may further rise as several among the injured are in critical condition, according to the hospital sources.
The reason behind the blast has not been ascertained yet.