Car bomb outside KFC in Karachi kills 6 - ambulance
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-11-15 13:40

A car bomb killed at least six people on Tuesday in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi in a attack most likely aimed at a KFC restaurant, police and ambulance crew said.

A government spokesman said at least four people died and several were injured, some seriously, but he said information was still coming in from the scene.

Pakistani firemen try to extinguish cars set ablaze after a bomb blast in Karachi November 15, 2005. A car bomb killed at least six people on Tuesday in the southern Pakistani city, according to an ambulance crew at the scene. Police said the car had been parked outside a KFL fast food outlet, and caused casualties in a nearby office block housing several oil and gas companies. [Reuters]

An ambulance crew member for the Edhi Foundation, Pakistan's largest charity, told Reuters six bodies were taken to hospital.

Pakistani police officials carry a body from a building after a bomb blast in Karachi November 15, 2005.[Reuters]

The car bomb exploded outside the KFC outlet in downtown Karachi around 9 a.m. local time (0400 GMT), gutting the restaurant and shattering the windows of a nearby six-storey office block housing several oil and gas exploration firms.

"This is an act of terrorism and apparently the KFC was the target," Manzoor Mughal, chief of investigation for Karachi police, told Reuters. "Our initial findings were that an explosive was placed inside a car."

Pakistanis escort an injured man after a car bomb exploded in Karachi November 15, 2005.[Reuters]

Police said the bomb caused casualties in and outside the office block. It was not clear if KFC was open at the time of the blast.

Some banks on the ground floor of the office building also felt the force of the blast, which blew other cars on the road to pieces. Tenants of the building include Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL)

Another KFC restaurant and a McDonald's outlet came under attack in September in Karachi. Two bombs exploded within minutes of each other at the two fast-food franchises, injuring at least two people, police said.