PESHAWAR - Over 40 people were killed and more than 100 wounded Friday when a car packed with explosives blew up in a busy market in Pakistan’s Peshawar city, a minister said.

North West Frontier Province (NWFP) Health Minister Zahir Ali Shah put the death toll at 41 after visiting the Lady Reading Hospital where the injured were admitted, The News International reported.

The explosion occurred around noon at the Karachi Bazaar, close to the NWFP assembly. Some witnesses said it was a suicide attack.

Television footage showed a wrecked vehicle on a road. The powerful blast damaged several vehicles parked nearby and caused panic.

Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told reporters that up to 100 people were injured and added the explosives were planted in a car.

Police, however, said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who used artillery rounds along with nearly 50 kg of powerful explosives, DPA reported.

Shopkeeper Mohammad Kamran said: “I was busy at work when I heard the blast. I rushed to the scene and saw naked bodies and the injured.

“Some bodies of women and children were trapped in damaged cars. I saw a person who had lost both his legs but was trying to crawl out of a bus,” he added.

The explosion damaged several shops in the market.

“All this was so horrible that I started to cry. Who are these cruel people who commit such atrocious acts? It is unbelievable,” Kamran was quoted as saying.

The blast took place less than a fortnight after the city, located about 150 km from Islamabad, was rocked by an explosion that killed several people.

Pakistan has witnessed a spate of bombings after security forces stepped up their offensive against Pakistani Taliban fighters.