A car carrying 220 kilograms (440 pounds) of explosives detonated in the city's historic Qissa Khawani bazaar, destroying at least 10 shops, several vehicles and leaving a huge crater, said Shafqat Malik, chief of the bomb disposal unit.
The Pakistani Taliban, Tehrik-i-Taliban, condemned the attack and denied any involvement.
Qissa Khawani bazaar, or the "storytellers' market," was the site of a bloody massacre in April 1930 when British soldiers fired on peaceful demonstrators, killing hundreds. At the time, Pakistan was part of India -- and India was under British rule.
Alamzeb Khan was working at a nearby tea stall when he felt the earth shake. The impact of the blast knocked him to the ground.
"When I got up, everything was on fire. Women and children were burning in (a) Suzuki pickup, and a number of vehicles were destroyed, besides the shops (that) were also on fire," Khan said.
The death toll is expected to rise, as most of the wounded are critically injured, said Dr. Arshad Javed, chief executive of Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar.
Already, people are sharing stories of incredible loss. One family traveled to Peshawar to attend a wedding. Now they're planning a mass funeral. In all, the family lost eighteen members in the attack, including children.
A gruesome week
Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's volatile Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has endured a violent week.
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