Skip to main content

4 killed in blast at Pakistan shrine

By Reza Sayah, CNN
Pakistani security officials inspect the site of the blast near the Sufi shrine in Pakpattan.
Pakistani security officials inspect the site of the blast near the Sufi shrine in Pakpattan.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • NEW: Officials mistake two unconscious victims as deceased
  • The bomb explodes shortly after dawn prayers
  • The shrine is one of the country's largest
  • An official says two boys posing as milkmen placed the bomb
RELATED TOPICS
  • Pakistan
  • Sufi Islam

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Four people were killed early Monday morning when a bomb exploded at one of Pakistan's largest Sufi shrines, authorities said. At least 15 others were wounded.

Authorities, at one point, put the death toll at six. However, police official Raja Ishfaq said that officers at the scene mistook two unconscious people as deceased. Those two were in critical condition, he said.

The bomb exploded at the Baba Farid shrine in Pakpattan shortly after dawn prayers, when crowds of morning worshipers usually leave the site, police said.

About 300 worshipers were at the shrine when the blast took place, said Aslam Hayat, the top government official in Pakpattan.

Two boys posing as milkmen placed the bomb at one of the main gates of the shrine, Hayat said.

They arrived at the shrine with a milk drum attached to their motorcycle and parked at the gate, Hayat said. The bomb detonated 10 minutes later, he said.

Hayat said explosives were likely inside the metal milk drum.

Pakpattan, an ancient city in Punjab province, is located about 190 km (118 miles) south of Lahore.

Baba Farid is considered one of Pakistan's most revered Sufi saints.

No one has claimed responsibility for the blast. But in recent months Muslim extremists have stepped up attacks against minority sects and their places of worship.

Journalist Nasir Habib contributed to this report.