KARACHI, Sept 13: Seven people were killed on Thursday when armed assailants hurled a hand-grenade and opened fire on a minibus near the Karachi University, police and eyewitnesses said.

They said the powerful explosion set the vehicle packed with passengers ablaze, adding that parts of the bodies were seen lying inside the bus stained with victims’ blood.

The Islami Jamiat Talaba alleged that activists of the All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organisation had attacked its workers who were in the bus. The APMSO denied the allegations.

Witnesses said that nine assailants on three motorcycles intercepted the minibus on the University Road near the Sheikh Zayed Islamic Centre. They first hurled some explosives into the bus and then sprayed it with bullets.

They said the assailants fled after the swift operation, leaving the victims in a pool of blood.

Police said four bodies had been brought to the Liaquat National Memorial Hospital. They were identified as Atif Butt, Imran Shahid, Mohammed Siddique and Kaju Habibullah.

The IJT said four of the victims were students of Karachi University’s applied chemistry, political science, library science and mass communications departments and were its workers.

Two bodies were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. One of the dead was identified as Sarfaraz while the identity of the other could not be ascertained.

JPMC’s emergency centre deputy director Seemi Jamali said the unidentified victim was in his mid-20s and his back had been blown.

Officials at the Liaquat Hospital said the four injured brought to the hospital had suffered bullet injuries and were stable. However, Ms Jamali said Haji Ahmed, 50, the only injured brought to the JPMC, was seriously wounded.

“He is still in a precarious condition due to profuse bleeding,” she added.

Meanwhile, traffic on the main University Road met a gridlock and hundreds of vehicles were stuck when police cordoned off the area. It took almost an hour for the traffic jam to clear.

Hundreds of IJT workers stormed into the LNMH where bodies of the victims had been brought in ambulances. Chanting slogans against the government, most of them entered the causality ward and the hospital management called police to control the situation.

Enraged youths also hurled stones on the main Stadium Road and blocked the road for 20 minutes.

Police officials said it was too early to ascertain the cause of incident because the investigation was in initial stages.

“Along with IJT workers, there were also other people who died or were injured,” said Capital City Police Officer Azhar Ali Farooqi. “We are looking into the matter but can’t exactly say about the motive behind the attack.”

Mubina Town police SHO Umer Farooq said no case had been registered because it took time to gather information about the victims. “We expect some time later in the night to register the case once we get complete data of the deceased and the injured,” he added.