aster Day.
There were scenes of carnage as parents searched for children amid the debris.
Pakistan's president condemned the attack, and the regional government has announced three days of mourning.
At least 300 people were injured, with officials saying they expected the death toll to rise.
All major hospitals in the area were put on an emergency footing after the blast, early on Sunday evening. The scene of the attack was littered with debris, which officials were searching through for evidence
The park was more crowded than usual, as Lahore's Christians celebrated Easter Day at its funfair
Soft target
Lahore
is one of Pakistan's most liberal and wealthy cities. It is the
political powerbase of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, and has seen
relatively few terror attacks in recent years.
A spokesman for
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, Ehsanullah Ehsan, said the group wanted to send a
message to Mr Sharif that they "have entered Lahore", and threatened
further attacks.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is a breakaway group from Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan. It has carried out several other attacks on Pakistani civilians and security forces in recent months.
Mr Sharif expressed "grief and sorrow over the sad demise of innocent lives". He has postponed a planned trip to the UK.
The
explosion, believed to have been carried out by one suicide bomber, hit
the main gate to the Gulshan-e-Iqbal park in the early evening, a short
distance from the children's playground.
Officials said the device had been packed with ball bearings. Police stood guard at the scene after the attack
The popular was more crowded than usual, as Lahore's minority Christians were celebrating Easter at its funfair.
Pakistan's Christians
Estimated to make up about 1.6% of the population, they are the second largest minority in Pakistan after Hindus
Large population in Karachi but also in the Punjab heartlands and the cities of Lahore and Faisalabad
Majority are descendants of low-caste Hindus who converted under the British Raj
Most remain poor menial workers, though there are wealthier Christians who came from Goa and are mainly in Karachi
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