Unidentified robbers shot two men dead in Karachi Sunday night in what appeared to be a mugging gone wrong, a police official told Dawn.

The incident occurred in the Sakhi Hasan area of North Nazimabad, within the jurisdiction of the Taimuria Police Station.

SSP Central Muqaddas Haider said the robbers had intercepted a car near a shopping centre and tried to snatch a mobile phone from 40-year-old Mohammed Rashid, who was driving the vehicle.

While the robbery was underway, 35-year-old motorcyclist Abdul Wahid arrived at the scene.

"The suspects tried to loot him too. However, both the driver and the motorcyclist resisted. The robbers then opened fire on them and fled the scene," Haider said.

Both Rashid and Wahid sustained critical bullet wounds and were rushed to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where doctors pronounced them dead.