QUETTA, March 22: Ten people, two children among them, were killed and 37 others injured on Friday when a bomb planted on a motorcycle-rickshaw went off at a crowded bazaar in Dera Allahyar town in the Jaffarabad district.

“Three men and two children were killed on the spot and five others succumbed to injuries in hospital,” police said.

Official sources said the motorcycle-rickshaw rigged with the time device was parked on the Quetta-Jacobabad highway near a bus terminal when it exploded.

The bodies and the injured were taken to the Dera Allahyar district hospital. “Five bodies and 42 injured were brought to hospital,” said Dr Saleem at the district hospital, adding two people with multiple wounds died during treatment.

Three others who were critically injured also died later, he said.

At least 10 people were shifted to Jacobabad and Larkana hospitals because of their precarious condition.

“Some unidentified people parked the motorcycle-rickshaw along the road and around 45 minutes after that it exploded, rocking the entire Dera Allahyar town,” police said, quoting eyewitnesses.

“The Bomb disposal squad (BDS) after examining the scene of the explosion has told us that a time device was planted in the rickshaw,” District Police Officer Zulfiqar Ali said.

Over a dozen shops and buildings were destroyed by the impact of the blast. Several motorcycles and vehicles parked nearby or passing through the area at the time of the blast were damaged.

Quoting a BDS report, police said the bomb used in the blast weighed about 30kg.

A senior police officer said investigation had been launched into the incident.

Five of the dead were identified as Khawind Bakhsh Jamali, Master Rasool Bakhsh Bugti, Hameedullah Manjho, Tufail Ahmed and his four-year-old son Altaf.