DAMMAM: A bombing took place outside a Shia mosque in Saudi Arabia’s Dammam city at the time of Friday prayers.

According to details, a car exploded near a Shia mosque in Dammam on Friday, killing four people, a witness said.

The witness, told media he was with his family near the mosque when “a quick explosion” happened. He did not know the cause of the blast.

He said acquaintances at the mosque told him an attendant was killed along with a bomber when he tried to prevent him from reaching it.

Photos posted by journalists on Twitter showed thick black clouds of smoke and a fire blazing at the purported scene of the blast.

Initial reports state the bombing was carried out by a suicide bomber. There are some reports that suggest the bomb was planted in a car.

Last Friday, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb at a mosque in Shia-majority Qatif during Friday weekly prayers killing 21 people and wounding several others. The self-styled Islamic State (IS) group said in an online statement that it had carried out the deadly suicide bomb attack last week.