QUETTA, June 7: At least 16 people, three children among them, were killed and 46 others injured in a bomb explosion near the gate of a seminary (madressah) here on Thursday.

The victims included three relatives of JUI-F secretary general Senator Maulana Ghafoor Haideri, family sources said.

“The target of the attack was the seminary in Satellite Town where a certificate awarding ceremony was under way when the powerful explosion took place,” DIG (operation) Qazi Wahid said.

Police said the bomb was on a bicycle parked near the main gate of Jamia Islamia Miftahul Uloom.

Eight people died on the spot and eight more died of their injuries in hospital.

The injured were first taken to the Civil Hospital, but most of them were later shifted to the Combined Military Hospital.

Sources said several of them were in critical condition.

Most of the victims were students, their parents and others who were trying to enter the seminary to attend ‘dastar bandi’ of the pupils who had completed their course.

The students, teachers and other people inside the seminary remained unhurt.

The explosive device was concealed among garlands loaded on the bicycles.

“Security personnel deployed in the area and other people thought the garlands had been brought for the students,” the DIG said.

The flowers lay scattered in the area after the blast and pieces of the bicycle were found up to 300 metres away. “Ball bearings, nuts, bolts and nails were used in the explosive device,” an official of the bomb disposal squad told Dawn, adding that around 6kg of explosives had been used in the improvised explosive device (IED), which was detonated with a timer. An emergency was declared in government hospitals of the provincial capital and law enforcement personnel cordoned off the area.

Some people resorted to firing from nearby buildings after the explosion, spreading panic and hampering rescue work.

Several vehicles and buildings were damaged in the explosion that rocked a large area.

The victims were identified as six-year-old Faizan, eight-year-old Mohammad Yunus, 10-year-old Faiz, Nazakat, Pir Bakhsh, Haji Anayatullah, Qari Ataur Rehman, Rahatullah, Nazir Ahmed, Kalimullah, Qari Hussain Ahmed, Mohibullah, Abdul Karim, Bilal, Irfan and Abdul Karim.