KARACHI: At least 15 people were killed and more than 30 injured in a bomb blast in a gambling den in a densely-populated area of the city on Thursday, officials and witnesses said.

The blast, which took place between 9:15 and 9:30pm, targeted people at the entrance of the multi-storey Brich Club (popularly known as rummy club) in Ghaas Mandi, near the city’s oldest neighbourhoods of Lyari and Kharadar.

There were stains of blood and human flesh on the main road along the club. Windscreens of vehicles parked outside the building were shattered.

The blast caused panic in the area, which also housed residential buildings and several commercial facilities, including wholesale markets. As ambulances got stuck up in narrow lanes, residents of the locality and passers-took part in the rescue operation.

“A total of 15 people were brought dead to the Civil Hospital, majority of whom remained unidentified,” said police surgeon Hamid Parihaar.

“Of the 35 injured, a few have been shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. Nearly a dozen injured are in a critical condition.”

The investigators said the bomb, weighing nearly two kilograms, was planted at the entrance of the building where people were waiting for their turn to enter the club.

“The blast caused a two-foot deep crater,” said SP Raja Umer Khattab of the Special Investigation Unit (SIU).

“It will be premature to reach any conclusion,” said city police chief Saud Mirza. “But the way the blast has been carried out with ball-bearings used in the bomb it shows the expertise of militants seen in the past.”