Pakistan blast death toll rises to seven

A bomb which exploded in a crowded market in the Pakistani city of Peshawar today, has killed at least seven people and wounded more than 40, police said.

The explosion occurred in the city’s downtown district about 10 minutes before iftar, the time for breaking the daily fast during the holy Islamic month of Ramadan, said police officer Zafar Khan said.

Six people in the street were killed and another man, who was among several seriously wounded, died later at a hospital, Khan said.

At least 41 others were wounded, several seriously.

“After the explosion people all around the area were crying,” said Habibullah Khan, an 18-year-old glass bangle vendor. “Then there were people lying in pools of blood. Debris was everywhere.”

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, which was caused by a home-made bomb planted in a fruit cart left by the side of the road, said Mohammed Riffat Pasha, chief of police in the North West Frontier Province of which Peshawar is the capital.

Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao condemned the bombing as terrorism but would not speculate on who might have been behind it.