PESHAWAR: At least six people were killed and eight others wounded in an explosion caused by an explosives-laden car here on Thursday.

The blast took place in an auto-workshop in the Scheme Chowk area on Kohat Road.

Superintendent of Police (Rural Circle) Rahim Shah Khan told newsmen that it was yet to be ascertained if the explosives were packed in the car or someone had driven the vehicle to the workshop for repairs.

An official of the bomb disposal unit said at least 25-30 kg of explosives with ball bearings had been stuffed in the car. The blast destroyed the workshop and damaged several nearby residential buildings, shops and a tower of a cellphone company.

Eyewitness Naimatullah Khan of Kohat Road said at Lady Reading Hospital that he was selling oranges when he was hit by a shrapnel and fell on the ground. “I was conscious, but could not move because of leg injuries. Rescuers took me to hospital, but I am worried about my pushcart.”

A police source said the car was found abandoned near a bank by a constable of the special police force and his son drove it to the workshop to remove some parts and use them in his own car.

The constable’s son lost his life and his own car in the blast.

Inspector General of Police Nasir Khan Durrani told television channels that he had ordered an inquiry. Police have been directed not to touch anything abandoned to avoid booby traps.

The dead and the injured were taken to the Lady Reading Hospital. Three of the deceased have been identified as Farooq, son of Atlas Khan, Ali Jan, son of Mohammad Ali, and Nisar, son of Mohammad Ayub. Other bodies were badly mutilated.

Rescuer Shakirullah of Al-Khidmat Foundation told Dawn that the two bodies had been torn apart. “I saw one of them sporting a beard and wearing a ring which can help in identifying him,” he said.

The injured were identified as Israr, Habib, Nauman, Janas Khan, Iqrar, Badam Gul and Nasir Hayat. One of the injured remained unidentified.

An official at the hospital said that five of the wounded were in critical condition and they had to undergo several surgeries.

Traffic on the busy Kohat-Peshawar Road was suspended after law-enforcement agencies cordoned off the entire area.

KP Information Minister Shah Farman told newsmen at the hospital that the provincial government sincerely wanted to defeat terrorism, but the federal government was not taking it into confidence on the issue of talks with the Taliban or the formation of national security policy.

A police spokesman said that during a search operation in Peshawar about 35 suspects had been rounded up and a huge quantity of arms and ammunition was recovered from their possession.

He said the search operation was conducted in Mathra, Khazana and Daudzai. Several suspected vehicles had also been taken into custody, he added.