QUETTA Anti-terror police were on high alert in Pakistan on Saturday as mass burials took place for the victims of a suicide bomber who killed at least 59 people at a Shia Muslim rally.

An AFP reporter said that 42 victims of suicide bombings were buried, while ceremonies for the rest of the victims were delayed as the families were waiting for the relatives to arrive from other cities.

Families and relatives wept and beat their chests and heads as they carried the coffins to graves.

The citys streets were deserted following a protest strike call by the local traders associations, an AFP reporter said, with security forces on patrol.

Provincial police chief Malik Mohammad Iqbal said that so far no arrests had been made and an investigation into the incident was in progress.