Seven people were killed and over 123 were injured after an explosive device in a bag detonated inside a madressah in Peshawar's Dir Colony on Tuesday.

Police sources revealed that around 40-50 children were present inside the madrassa as the bomb went off. The seminary's administration added that around 1,100 students study at the institution and students between the ages of 22 and 28 were present in the class at the time of the explosion.

SP City Peshawar Waqar Azeem told The Express Tribune that an unidentified man entered the madrassa around 8 am and left a suspicious school bag on the premises. He said the bag is believed to have had an IED device that went off when the children started filling in the seminary.

Following the tragic incident, several public figures and social media users took to Twitter to express their grief.  “At a loss of words. May the martyrs of the #DirColony tragedy rest in eternal peace. My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families and the injured,” wrote actor and singer Farhan Saeed.

Singer and now ambassador for Pakistan’s first knowledge city Ali Zafar also expressed his sadness with a tweet, alongside a song he released following the tragic APS attack of 2014. “I’m deeply saddened by the terrorist attack on the madrassa in Peshawar. It brings back some haunting memories from the Peshawar school attack. None of this should be forgotten,” he shared.

The music video of his track titled Urainge featured several from the entertainment fraternity, including Anwar Maqsood, Ali Azmat, Meesha Shafi, Hadiqa Kiani and Hamza Ali Abbasi, among others.

Seasoned actor Humayun Saeed also tweeted about the incident. “Deeply saddened to learn about the terrorist attack in a Peshawar madrassa,” he said. “My mind is numb at the thought of our children bleeding again, an unfathomable loss for the families. Lots and lots of prayers for the victims. May Allah protect us from all evil,” he concluded.