A man was killed and seven other people injured in an explosion outside a grocery store at Rawalpindi's Pir Wadhai bus station on Friday, officials said.

The attack was carried out using an improvised explosive device with ball bearings and containing one kilogramme of explosive material, according to police officials. The device, fitted with a timer, was placed outside a grocery store where the rickshaw was parked. The explosion occurred as the rickshaw driver, Bilal, 26, was drinking tea at a hotel adjacent to the store. The driver too was injured in the explosion.

According to city police spokesperson, Sub-Inspector Sajjadul Hassan, the injured were admitted to Holy Family Hospital, where one of them, later identified as Muhammad Afzal Khan, succumbed to his injuries.

Hassan said the possibility of terrorism could not be ruled out and the case has been handed over to the Counter-Terrorism department (CTD) where the FIR will also be registered. Special police teams will further aid the CTD in the investigation.

Hassan said that the nature of the blast was similar to previous blasts in the past year. This is the third such incident to have taken place in Rawalpindi this year.

On March 13, seven people were injured, one of them critically, when an explosive device was detonated in the busy Saddar Bazaar. A similar incident was reported on June 12, when one person was killed while 12 others injured in an explosion in the same vicinity.