Following the blast, angry Shia protestors cordoned off the area, keeping police, rescue teams and media away from the blast site.

The protestors said that Hazara community was targeted dozens of time in Quetta over the last two years in which hundreds of innocent Shia Muslims lost their lives, but the government failed to provide adequate security to them.

Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen and Hazara Democratic Party, the groups of Shia Muslims in the city announced a three-day-mourning over the incident and gave a strike call in Quetta on Sunday.

Shia clerics and scholars in other parts of the country including southern cities of Karachi and Hyderabad staged sit-in at the roads to express solidarity with the victims of Quetta blast.

The protestors demanded government to arrest those responsible behind the incident and provide foolproof security to Hazara Community.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast yet.

President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the blast and directed Governor of Balochistan, Zulfiqar Ali Magsi to leave no stone unturned for providing security to Hazara community which repeatedly becomes an easy target of miscreants.

Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf also condemned the blast and directed hospital administration to provide best medical treatment to the injured people.

This is the second major blast targeting Shia Muslims in the area since the beginning of this year. Earlier on Jan 10, over 90 people were killed and over 200 others injured when twin blasts targeted Hazara community in the city.

58 killed, 176 injured as blast hits SW Pakistan