A man rushes an injured girl to an emergency room in a Karachi hospital on Monday. (AFP)

Karachi, July 7 (AP): A string of small explosions killed one person and wounded at least 50 people today in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, rattling the country a day after a deadly suicide attack in the capital, officials said.

Five men have been detained in connection with the blasts, a police official said.

State-run PTV reported that one person was killed in a blast at Qasba Colony. Fifteen children were among the injured, TV news channels reported. Earlier reports said two were killed in the blasts.

The explosions occurred within the space of an hour at Orangi Town, Banaras Chowk, Pahargunj, Shahrah-e-Noor Jehan, Qasba Colony and Mangho Pir, TV channels reported.

Television footage showed ambulances rushing people through Karachi’s crowded streets, and victims lying in hospital beds with bloody bandages.

Babar Khattak, Sindh province police chief, said that it appeared that 150-200g of explosives were used in each of the six Karachi blasts — only enough to create a relatively small explosion.

He confirmed the detention of the five men.

“It seems the series of blasts was carried out to create harassment and fear among the citizens,” Khattak said. He also noted that the areas struck had large Pashtun populations and said the explosions may have been aimed at creating ethnic unrest.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, just as there has not been for yesterday’s blast in Islamabad, which left at least 18 dead, most of them police officers.

In Karachi, 50 people were hurt, according to Liaqat Memon, an official at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.

At least 2,000 people gathered at the hospital in central Karachi, where many of the victims were taken. People were searching for friends and relatives among the wounded.

Interior ministry chief Rehman Malik said the blasts appeared to have been pre-planned and aimed at destabilising the city. It was not clear how many of the wounded were civilians.

Two of the bombs were apparently planted in a taxi stand and a pick-up truck full of scrap, according to Wasim Ahmed, Karachi’s police chief.

In October, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto narrowly escaped a suicide attack in Karachi, Pakistan’s main port and commercial hub, when a bomb killed 140 people at a rally of thousands of supporters welcoming her home from exile.

Bhutto was later slain in a separate attack in December in Rawalpindi.

Khattak said security forces had intensified patrols in the affected Karachi areas today. Karachi residents appeared frustrated at the latest events.

“We are living in fear already. Such kinds of blasts further aggravate our feelings,” said Abdul Karim, a vendor near the hospital.

“But you can’t help it. It’s our destiny.”