The death toll from a bomb targeting a Shiite neighbourhood in south-western Pakistan rose above 80 Sunday, officials said.
More than 1,000 kilogrammes of explosives hidden in a water tanker ripped through a market on the outskirts of Quetta Saturday evening, causing the collapse of several buildings, dpa reported.
"The death toll now stands at 81 as rescuers found more bodies in the rubble and some victims died at health care facilities," senior Quetta police officer Fayyaz Ahmed Sumbal said.
Authorities feared a further increase in the death toll because several of the nearly 180 injured people were in critical condition.
Sunni extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.
"Our suicide bomber carried out the blast," Dawn newspaper quoted spokesman Abu Bakar Siddique as saying.
The banned group also struck the Muslim minority community in Quetta last month, killing at least 86 people in twin blasts.
On Sunday, Shiite representatives accused the government of not acting against "terrorists" targeting the Muslim minority.
"After continued ignorance of state institutions, we have been constrained to think that the security forces and the rulers are equal partners in a plan to massacre the Hazara community," a statement read.
Balochistan Governor Zulfiqar Ali Magsi said the latest sectarian attack exposed the "weaknesses" of intelligence agencies in tracing the extremist elements.
The regional government announced a day of official mourning on Sunday, while Shiite groups observed a general strike.