A suicide blast last night near the Gaddafi stadium where an ODI between Pakistan and Zimbabwe was being played claimed the life of a policeman who stopped the bomber from targeting the cricketing venue.

During the day-night match between Pakistan and Zimbabwe here, a suicide bomber blew himself up while riding a rickshaw at 9 pm near Kalma Chowk less than a kilometre away from the ground.

Four people were rushed to a nearby hospital where sub-inspector Abdul Majid was pronounced dead. Soon after the blast, the Pakistan Cricket Board issued a statement, saying it was a "power transformer blast" that was caused by malfunctioning.

Police cordoned off the area and no one including the media was allowed to enter the blast site. Senior police officials kept denying that it was a suicide blast. "The gas cylinder fixed in the auto rickshaw was exploded. Forensic samples had been collected from the site to determine the nature of the explosion," Lahore police chief Amin Wains told reporters. He said it would be premature to say that it was a "suicide attack".

However, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid told Geo News, "An attempt to attack the Gaddafi Stadium was foiled by the gallantry of a police official, who lost his life while trying to stop the attacker near Kalma Chowk."