Islamabad: One person was killed on October 7 when clashes erupted after the funeral prayers for slain Sunni extremist leader Maulana Azam Tariq in the Pakistani capital, when mourners set fire to a Shiite mosque and a cinema hall.

Rioters went on a rampage and set on fire a Shiite mosque, a movie hall and a petrol pump. They also attacked vehicles and shops after completion of the funeral prayers for Tariq.

Fire engines rushed to the spot to put out the flames and police fired teargas shells and baton-charged the mob that chanted slogans against Shiites and President Pervez Musharraf.

Some of the film artists who were shooting at the Melody Film Theatre in central Islamabad later told Pakistani TV networks that their team, comprising both men and women, locked themselves in a bathroom to hide from the angry mob and later jumped out of the windows to escape the flames and fumes.

One cinema hall worker, however, died of suffocation due to the fumes, police sources said.

Six rioters were later arrested when police chased them into a forest on the city's outskirts.

PTI