HYDERABAD, India, May 18, SPA -- A bomb ripped through a historic mosque as Friday prayers were ending in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, killing at least five people and wounding several others, officials said. Many of those injured in the explosion at the 17th-century Mecca Masjid were severely wounded, and the city's police chief, Balwinder Singh, warned the death toll could rise, according to a report of the Associated Press. Soon after the blast, Y.S. Rajasekhara, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh state, where Hyderabad is located, appealed for calm between Hindus and Muslims. Reddy called the bombing an act of «intentional sabotage on the peace and tranquility in the country.» He told reporters in New Delhi, where he was meeting with federal officials on unrelated business, that one bomb went off around 1:30 p.m. (0800 GMT) and that police soon after found and defused two other bombs. About 10,000 people usually attend Friday prayers at the mosque, which is located in a Muslim neighborhood ofHyderabad, and the blast sparked a panic.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/450834