A Pakistani woman weeps as she stands at the site of a bomb blast in Karachi, March 4, 2013.
Residents of Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, have begun holding the funerals for the 45 people killed in a car bomb explosion outside a mosque that also wounded about 150 others.
Thousands of people turned out for the funerals Monday.
Schools and businesses are closed as the city observes a day of mourning for the people killed in the blast Sunday as worshipers were leaving evening prayers in a neighborhood dominated by minority Shi'ite Muslims. Several buildings caught fire and people were trapped under the rubble of structures that collapsed. Women and children are among those wounded.
Paramilitary officer Pervez Ahmad says a chemical used in the blast caught fire and spread the destruction.
No one has claimed responsibility, but Sunni Muslim militants with links to al-Qaida and the Taliban frequently target their Shi'ite neighbors across Pakistan, especially in Karachi.
According to the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, at least 2,284 people died in ethnic, sectarian and political violence last year in Karachi.
Karachi Buries Bomb Victims
1/5Shi'ite Muslims attend funeral prayers who those killed in a bomb attack a day earlier in Karachi, Pakistan, March 4, 2013.
The car bomb on Sunday killed 45 people and wounded about 150 others outside a mosque.
2/5Shi'ite Muslims shout slogans during a protest against the bomb attack in Karachi, in Quetta, Pakistan March 4, 2013.
The car bomb on Sunday killed 45 people and wounded about 150 others outside a mosque.
3/5A man stands in an apartment that was damaged in a car bombing that killed scores of people, in Karachi, Pakistan, March 4, 2013.
The car bomb on Sunday killed 45 people and wounded about 150 others outside a mosque.
4/5Medics and civilians gather at the site of a bomb blast in Karachi, Pakistan, March 3, 2013.
The car bomb on Sunday killed 45 people and wounded about 150 others outside a mosque.
5/5Men carry the body of a man from the site of a bomb blast in Karachi, Pakistan, March 3, 2013.
The car bomb on Sunday killed 45 people and wounded about 150 others outside a mosque.
The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.
