KARACHI, Nov 15: Three people were killed and 21 others injured when a powerful car bomb exploded in front of the PIDC House here on Tuesday. The bomb went off at around 8:40am causing extensive damage to a fast-food outlet, bank branches on the ground floor and offices on upper floors.

At least seven vehicles were destroyed and eight others were damaged. The windows of adjoining buildings, including the a five-star hotel and Dawood Centre, were shattered.

The KFC outlet and the adjacent Muslim Commercial Bank branch were destroyed while branches of three other banks were damaged. Most of the floors of the PIDC House are occupied by the Pakistan Petroleum Limited.

Two security guards, Sabz Ali and Iftikhar Ahmad, on duty at the MCB branch, were killed on the spot and their bodies were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. Thirteen of the injured were also taken to the JPMC where a state of emergency was declared.

The other injured were taken to the Civil Hospital where Jawed Iqbal was operated upon, but he could not survive. Two women hailing from South Africa, Sidhwa Mejailuis and Suria Ketayun, were also injured and taken to a private hospital.

Police and Rangers reached the place 15-20 minutes after the blast and cordoned off the area. The fire-brigade arrived at the site to extinguish fire that had engulfed the vehicles parked near the car.

The head of the Police Bomb Disposal Squad, Mohammad Iqbal, said: “A timer was attached to the bomb and its impact indicated it would have weighed about five kilograms.”

He said the device contained improvised explosives. The blast caused a crater on the ground one-and-a-half feet deep and four-foot in diameter. The car was blown up, he added.

DIG Investigation zone-1 Manzoor Mughal said: “The PPL offices are housed in the PIDC building and they could be the target. We are, however, investigating the blast keeping in view all the options. There are chances of the involvement of any militant body.”

The car in which the bomb was planted, was identified with its engine number. Its number was ACB-490 and it was registered in Karachi in the name of a female resident of Khairpur, Mr Mughal said and added that the Khairpur police had reported about the theft of the car on Sept 28, but no FIR had been lodged till Tuesday evening.

A witness, who sought anonymity, said he worked for a private company in the PIDC House. He said that a youth in his late twenties wearing trousers and shirt had parked the car and gone away some. The car exploded after some time, he added.