At least 63 people including women and kids were killed and over 306 others injured when a suicide bomber hit a public park in Pakistan's east Lahore city on Sunday evening, officials said.

Zaeem Qadri, the spokesperson of government of Punjab province where Lahore is the capital city, confirmed the casualty figure adding that the dead include eight members of a family and a pregnant woman.

Haider Ashraf, the Deputy Inspector General Police, said that the suicide bomber blew himself up in the motorbike parking stand located near the main gate of the Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park in the Lahore city.

He said that there were a large number of people inside the park due to Sunday's holiday and a number minority Christian people was also visiting the park to celebrate the Easter festival,  when the blast happened.

All the recreational parks in the city were closed after the blast and people were directed to stay at home.

The injured people including a large number of women and kids were shifted to Jinnah Hospital and Sheikh Zaid Hospital where scores of them are said to be in critical condition.

Personnel from Pakistani army also reached at the blast site to shift the injured people to the hospital.

Khwaja Salman Rafique, the adviser to Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif, appealed residents to donate blood at the hospital to save the lives of the injured people as scores of them are in critical condition.

The bomb disposal squad said that the suicide bomber was carrying an estimated eight to 10 kg of explosive materials in his explosive vest.

Police has found the body parts of the bomber and an investigation into the incident is being carried out.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.

The government of Punjab announced three-day mourning over the incident whereas the governments in the country's south Sindh and southwest Balochistan province announced one-day mourning.

The country's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the blast and directed hospital administration to provide the best possible medical treatment to the injured people.

Source:
courtesy of XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

by Xinhua News Agency

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