PESHAWAR, May 22 At least seven people were killed and 75 other injured when a powerful bomb exploded outside a cinema in a busy commercial area on Friday evening when people were coming out of the hall after a show.

The blast destroyed at least eight vehicles and partially damaged a number of music and CD shops and restaurants, some of them at a considerable distance from the site of the blast.

A number of power lines were damaged, causing suspension of electricity supply in the area.

This is the second bomb blast to hit the city in a week. A bomb attack on May 16 on the City Circular Road had claimed 13 lives.

SSP (Coordination) Qazi Mohammad Jamil said that terrorists had planted 65 kilograms of explosives inside a car parked outside the Tasveer Mahal Cinema in Khyber Bazaar.

A bomb disposal squad official said that the bomb carried a timer device like the one used in last week's car bombing.

Doctors at the Lady Reading Hospital said the death toll might increase because six of the 75 injured people were in critical condition.

People working in a hotel just opposite the cinema said after the blast, they could not actually see what had happened because there was too much smoke and dust in the air. But they heard people crying and screaming for help and soon they realised the gravity of the situation.

Three hours after the blast, two hand-grenades were hurled on a police post in Wazirbagh.