At least nine people have been killed and 42 others wounded in an explosion on a congested road in the central Pakistani city of Multan.
The blast on Sunday came when a motorcycle hit an auto rickshaw that police believe was carrying some kind of explosive material while travelling on the city's Vehari Road.
"At least nine people were killed and more than 40 were wounded," Multan police chief Azhar Ikram told AFP, adding that the rickshaw had exploded on impact.
Ashiq Malik, chief of Nishtar Hospital, confirmed the death toll and said 42 others were wounded.
Ikram said that police initially thought the Compress Natural Gas cylinder installed in the rickshaw had detonated, but bomb disposal staff later found traces of explosive material.
He said that police had launched investigation into the incident and are trying to identify the passengers in rickshaw in an effort to discover where the explosives had come from and why they were being transported.
AFP
