Islamabad: Eight people were killed and 18 wounded when a powerful car bomb exploded outside the Denmark Embassy here on Monday, police and hospital sources said.

All the dead and injured were Pakistanis, a paramedical official said, although the police would not confirm this immediately. Police sources said the explosives were planted in a car parked on a narrow road in front of the embassy. On the other side of the road is the office of an NGO.

Witnesses said the blast left a crater more than six feet deep. Walls of nearby houses on Street 18 of F-6 residential area collapsed following the blast. The explosion was so loud that it was heard more than five kilometres away. The smoke emanating at the blast site could be seen from across the capital.

At the time of blast there were 12-15 visa seekers outside the embassy. "We have reports that three people have been killed," a police official told reporters.

Deputy Police Commissioner of Islamabad Rana Akbar, who was among those to reach the site first, confirmed the death toll and said one of the dead was a security guard at the Danish embassy.

The embassy is among the few in Pakistan to be located in a residential area. Most missions are located in the heavily-guarded diplomatic enclave. Doctors said two of the dead and 12 of the injured were brought to the Services Hospital. Five of them were in critical condition.

Some of the injured were also sent to the Pakistan Institute Medical Sciences. The Islamabad administration said that all exit points in the capital were sealed and people leaving the city were being thoroughly checked.

Source : IANS