KARACHI, Feb 1: An unidentified man was killed while two other people were injured when a home-made explosive device went off near Memon Masjid in Kharadar area, witnesses and police said on Sunday.

The witnesses said that the bomb exploded at around 9.15am at a rubbish dump in a lane behind the mosque. The man died on the spot while two others received injuries. One of them was critically injured.

They said that the blast created panic in the area, but due to its desolate location and it being Sunday, casualties were limited.

The body of the unidentified victim and the injured were shifted to the Civil Hospital where the deceased remained unidentified.

Sources at the hospital’s medico-legal section told Dawn that the deceased, clad in grey Shalwar Qameez, was in his late 20s. They said that the left leg and the right arm of the deceased were severely affected from the blast.

The sources said that the victim received injuries to the face, which left him unrecognizable.

One of the injured, a sanitary worker named Pardeep, received burn injuries in the explosion, they said. He was later admitted to the Burns Ward with 24 per cent burns on his body.

The other injured, identified as Mohammed Ahmed Niazi, resident of Baghdadi, was released from the hospital after first aid, the sources said.

An official of the bomb disposal squad told Dawn that the device was locally made and it contained about one kilogramme of high explosives. He said that the blast had created a 3.3 feet wide and 1.5 feet deep crater at the site. The purpose of the blast could be to create panic and fear among the public, the Kharadar police said.

The police said that it could be an attempt of terrorists to register their presence, as law and order remained under control during the two Eids, Muharram, and other major occasions in the city.

The police registered a case (126/2009) against unidentified culprits on behalf of the state.