At least seven people, including two women and a child, were killed and five others injured on Saturday when a bomb planted in a passenger van went off near a hotel in a town in Pakistan's troubled Balochistan province.

The remote-control device planted in the van, which was parked outside a hotel at Pakistan Chowk in Dera Bugti town, went off with a loud bang, police said.

Seven persons, who were inside the hotel, were killed in the blast, they said.

The bomb was apparently planted to target some persons who were travelling by it from Sui to Dera Bugti. However, they were not in the vehicle when the blast occurred, police said.

Four persons, including two women and a child, were killed on the spot while three others succumbed to injuries in the hospital, the official APP news agency reported, adding five others were admitted to the civil hospital and stated to be in critical condition.

Security forces cordoned off the area immediately after the blast.

The blast came two days after the terrorist attack on the homecoming procession of former Premier Benazir Bhutto [Images] in the southern port city of Karachi, which killed nearly 165 people and injured over 500. Police were probing a list of possible suspects given by Bhutto.

Over the past week, militants have carried out a string of bomb attacks in the area around Dera Bugti.

Power supply was suspended to the town and many other areas after militants blew up four power pylons on October 13. Gas supply to the Sui gas purification plant was disrupted when militants blew up a pipeline on October 12.

Militants had also attacked a Frontier Constabulary checkpost in Sui area with rockets.