QUETTA, July 4: An 11-year-old girl was killed and four policemen and nine other people were injured when a bomb attached to a motorbike exploded in the Manan Chowk on Friday morning.

“The girl was a beggar. She was with her father who was critically injured,” Capital City Police Officer Mohammad Akbar told Dawn.

Sources said that the motorcycle had been parked by a man near a branch of a private bank at the busy intersection half an hour before the blast.

The explosion injured 14 people who were taken to the Civil Hospital where the girl, Shakila, died an hour later.

One of the injured, Abdul Baqi said that the girl was at the place where the bomb exploded while her father was sitting on the nearby footpath.

“Four traffic policemen, including two officers, were critically injured,” DSP City Police Raja Ishtiaq said, adding that they were admitted to the Combined Military Hospital in Quetta.

Sources said that the blast damaged several nearby buildings.

The blast, heard in almost all localities of the city, caused panic and forced traders to close shops and markets along the Jinnah Road.

“The bomb was fitted with a timer,” a senior police officer said, adding that there was no rush because it was a Friday, otherwise human losses would have been higher.

The injured were identified as SI Mohammad Afzal, ASI Mohammad Amjad, head constable Suba Khan, constable Mohammad Tariq, Mohammad Ramzan, Abdul Rashid, Mohammad Shumal Khan, Adeel Ahmed, Zulfiqar Ahmed, Abdullah, Gul Nawab, Abdul Baqi and Munir Ahmed.

“So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the blast,” police officials said.

Another explosion was reported from Kohlu town at noon. It damaged wall of a school, but did not cause any casualty.