At least three people were killed and 25 others injured following an explosion at a shop in Lahore’s Anarkali area on Thursday.
Rescue teams have been dispatched to the area while the injured are being transferred to hospitals. Rescue officials said that five of the injured were in a critical condition.
Videos and photographs taken from the site show numerous shops and government offices located in the vicinity. The Federal Board of Revenue office is also located in the area within walking distance from the explosion site.
Multiple motorcycles and shops were damaged in the explosion. People located miles away reported that they heard the blast and spotted plumes of smoke billowing from the area.
In a media briefing, Lahore DIG Operations Abid Khan said that a suspected timed-device may have been used in the explosion. He added that the final investigation would confirm the suspicion.
A bomb disposal squad and teams from the Counter-Terrorism Department have reached the location. The area has been cordoned off and evidence is being collected from the location. It was initially believed that a gas cylinder had exploded.
Lahore Deputy Commissioner Umer Chatta told media that the explosive material was planted on a bike parked outside a private bank in the area.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the militant group Baloch Nationalist Army claimed responsibility for the blast. In a tweet, the spokesman said that the explosion had targeted the employees of the Bank Al-Habib Limited.
