At least 16 people were killed and over twenty-four injured in a blast in Hazarganji vegetable market of Pakistan's Quetta.

The blast at around 7:35 am was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED) that had been hidden among the vegetables in the market, police said.

At least eight of those killed in the bomb blast at Hazarganji area of Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, belonged to the Hazara community.

A local police official who was posted at the fruit market and survived the bomb said the area had been packed at the time of the blast early in the morning.

During the early hours trucks arrive with vegetables brought in from outside the city, to be shifted by traders into smaller vehicles and delivered throughout Quetta.

The wounded were shifted to Bolan Medical Complex for medical treatment. Rescue teams, police reached the site of the blast and informed that rescue operation is underway.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal strongly condemned the attack, Radio Pakistan tweeted. Khan directed to provide best possible medical treatment to injured.