Karachi, May 13 (HT): At least 41 people, including women, were killed and 20 more injured when gunmen riding motorcycles fired indiscriminately at a bus carrying members of the Ismaili Shia community in the Pakistani port city of Karachi on Wednesday.
Around eight gunmen carried out the attack near Safoora Chowk area of Karachi, an eyewitness was quoted as saying by Dawn.com. The gunmen escaped after the attack.
The dead included 25 men and 16 women, Dawn.com reported.
A rescue official said around 50 to 60 people were travelling in the bus.
Several people succumbed to their injuries while being taken to hospital, Pakistani media reports said. The condition of several of the wounded was described as critical.
Fear and panic gripped the area after the attack. Police and paramilitary Pakistan Rangers personnel cordoned off the site of the attack.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Media reports said the bus was carrying members of the Ismaili Shia community. Pakistan’s Shia minority has been repeatedly targeted by extremists over the past few years. Scores have died in these attacks.