A powerful explosion ripped through the Egyptian Embassy in the Pakistani capital today, killing at least six people and wounding dozens more.
The cause of the blast wasn't immediately known.Hundreds of police quickly cordoned off the embassy compound in the diplomatic enclave, blocking streets with barbed wire and mesh fences.
"I was working nearby and I heard the blast and saw flames and came rushing to the embassy," said Tariq Raza, a Pakistan government official working in a nearby office building.
The explosion occurred at about 9:30 a.m. (9:30 p.m. MST), and the concussion was felt several blocks away.
A huge chunk of the embassy wall was blasted away. Several bodies were lying outside on the lawns. Ambulances rushed to the building, piling wounded people into their vehicles.
Across the road from the embassy, about 200 yards away, the windows of the multistory building that houses the Australian-based ANZ Grindlay's Bank were blown out.
A crane on the embassy lawn gingerly removed concrete slabs, searching for employees buried beneath the rubble. Moans and screams from injured workers, some trapped within, could be heard outside the compound.
Crowds quickly gathered outside the compound, some hindering emergency workers, others offering help.