QUETTA, Oct 30: At least four people, including one Levies man, were killed and 18 others injured in a bomb attack here on Wednesday.

The blast took place on the crowded Zarghoon road known for scrap dealers, vehicle repair garages and carpet shops, during busy hours.

A CNG cylinder exploded in a car that caught fire after the blast. At least six people were injured by the cylinder blast.

Two people died on the spot and two others in hospital.

But AFP quoted officials as saying that at least five people had been killed and 17 injured.

Official sources confirmed the death of Levies constable Ali Muhammad who happened to be there at the time of the blast.

Police and Frontier Corps personnel cordoned off the area and took the bodies and injured to the civil hospital.

The hospital’s resident medical officer, Dr Rasheed Jamali, said: “Initially, two bodies and 23 injured were brought to the emergency.”

He said two of the injured succumbed to their injuries and six others whose condition was serious were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital.

Sources said the bomb was strapped to a bicycle parked in front of a plaza.

The bomb contained eight to 10 kg of explosives with nails, nuts and bolts, DIG Investigations Syed Mobin Ahmed said. The bomb was a timed device, he said, adding that police were trying to determine who was the target.

Police said several cars, rickshaws and motorcycles parked close to the site of the blast caught fire. The powerful blast shattered windows and doors of several nearby plazas and shops.

No organisation or person claimed responsibility for the blast till late in the night.

Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch condemned the blast and asked security forces to nab the perpetrators.

He said the government had to protect the life and property of people and it would fulfil its responsibility.

He directed the heath authorities to provide best possible treatment to the injured and if required shift them to Karachi.

Also on Wednesday, another powerful explosion took place in Noshki, some 160 km off Quetta, but there was no loss of life or property.