A powerful bomb exploded during the busy Firiday afternoon prayer at the historic Mecca mosque in Hyderabad’s old city, killing 13 people and injuring dozens.

The explosion occurred at 1.20 pm when nearly 15,000 people were offering namaz in the mosque’s sprawling courtyard, killing five people, including two children on the spot. Two other bombs were also found at the mosque but were defused by the police moments after the first explosion.

Top state officials said the bomb was “very sophisticated” and triggered remotely by a cellphone, and RDX was used in making them.

The blast triggered tension in the old city and police had to deploy heavy forces armed with teargas, rubber bullets and water cannons to tame rioting crowds.

Some locals alleged that the police firing caused four of the 13 deaths, when police were trying to control a mob that set a petrol pump ablaze. State DGP MA Basith denied this claim, saying, “Only rubber bullets were used, which cannot cause deaths.”

But later city Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh confirmed that two persons died when police opened fire on the mob at the petrol pump, PTI reported.

Andhra Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy told reporters after visiting the injured at Osmania General Hospital: “We have information that RDX was used in the explosion. We are confident of identifying the culprits very soon.” No group has claimed responsibility for the explosion.

The bomb exploded just as the afternoon namaz was coming to an end. The exact site of the mosque was next to the Pani ka houz, a water tank in the mosque’s courtyard. The bomb was apparently kept in a metal box under a slab of rock, inches away from the last line of praying devotees.

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