MULTAN: An explosion at the home of a local cleric in central Pakistan killed nine people on Monday, trapping casualties under the rubble of dozens of flattened homes, officials said. It was not immediately clear why the explosives detonated on the outskirts of Mian Channu, about 90 kilometres (55 miles) east of Multan city in the heart of Pakistan's most populous and politically important province Punjab. 'The blast took place inside the house of a local cleric. Children used to come to his house for religious education,' local district police chief Kamran Khan told reporters. 'Rescue teams have recovered nine dead bodies. Dozens are injured. The blast was apparently due to some type of explosives inside the house,' Khan added. A doctor at the local hospital confirmed the death toll. 'We received nine dead bodies. Thirty-five people are injured,' Doctor Naeem Sadiq told AFP by telephone. Khan said 20 to 25 homes collapsed in the explosion. A senior local administration official, Qazi Ashfaq Ahmad, told the private Geo television station that several homes collapsed. 'It was a huge blast. We do not know how it happened but it was a severe one,' witness Mohammad Baber told AFP.