KARACHI, May 20: Unlike the bomb blasts in this metropolis over decades, the bomb blast at Hyderi mosque on May 7 resulted in a remarkably high number of burn cases , doctors and police indicated while analyzing the overall physical impact of the explosion.

They observed that it was this big number of burn cases which was pushing up the death toll with each passing day. Most of the 14 people who were killed in the mosque blast on May 7 had died instantly, but the death toll, which is continuing to rise, has already touched the mark of 22 and doctors fear that the figure may swell further.

"There are several patients with serious burns who are struggling for life in different private hospitals," said one of them. At the Liaquat National Hospital, such patients are Ahsan Abbas Husain and Ahmer Manzer whereas the condition of another four blast victims at the Patel Hospital is no different. Aga Khan Hospital has some more such cases.

The scene of the blast had been examined by explosive experts associated with army and navy, apart from those of the Bomb Disposal Squad of the city police. Though investigators have been waiting for the experts' findings, they believe that the bomb contained local explosives.

The army's team of explosive experts is of the view that the bomb weighed between two and three kilograms, police investigators told Dawn, adding that the suicide bomber might have been carrying the explosives in a briefcase apart from that tied on his body.

While in many incidents of violence, especially sectarian, the attackers had used fire-arms, the Hyderi mosque blast perhaps was the first in which the bomber had blown himself up and also inside a mosque, observed one of the investigators.

The last reported death in the tragedy is of Afsar Abbas, 38, who was under treatment at the Liaquat National Hospital and breathed his last on Thursday evening. He has left behind a widow and three children.

Before him, Ahmer Manzer Abbas who was the sole bread-earner of his family had succumbed at Liaquat National Hospital. He has left behind a widow and a one-year-old son. He also has his mother and three sisters to mourn his death.

Among those under treatment at the Liaquat National Hospital is the 19-year-old Ahsan Naqvi, also the sole bread-earner of his family, who has suffered over 50 per cent burns.

Swathed in bandages with his hairs signed off in the massive bomb explosion, Ahsan has not recovered from the shock and repeatedly asks for cold water. About one year ago, he had lost his father, Shahid Naqvi, in a road accident. Since then, Ahsan has been working with a clearing/forwarding agency. Ahsan has a younger brother and a sister, besides the mother, living with him.

"I was in the fourth row when the massive blast took place, and fire broke out. As my cloths fell off, I ran outside the mosque. Later, when I regained consciousness, I found myself in a hospital bed," he recalls.

The shocked and dejected mother of the victim remarked, "All such things happen only in this country where faithful are targeted this way even while offering prayers."

Inayat Ali, 35, an office boy at a private company was in the fourth row when the bomb went off. Lying in his hospital bed, he told Dawn that he had noticed a policeman sitting in the forward row and reciting the Holy Quran.

"As soon as the Imam Saheb raised the takbeer, there was a blast and fire engulfed the surroundings. I ran out of the mosque with my burning clothes peeling off," Inayat said. He said that he returned to the mosque helped out other victims.

Another man, 60-year-old Mazhar Husain, fortunately escaped grave injuries. He had sustained minor burns in his feet. He was in the sixth row, but at a distance from the spot where the bomb exploded.

Qamar Abbas, 30, an employee in the Askari Bank, is a regular visitor to the mosque. He was in the second row. Around 100-150 Namazis were already there when he arrived at the mosque, he recalled. Qamar Abbas had suffered shrapnel in his feet. He has already undergone two surgeries for the removal of several pieces of metal from his feet.