A would-be suicide bomber was shot dead by Malian soldiers in the northern city of Gao before he managed to set off the explosive device, witnesses said on Sunday.
The incident occurred late Saturday night.
On Friday morning, Mali witnessed its first suicide bombing since France launched an offensive against Islamist rebels who had taken over the north of the West African nation and were moving towards the capital Bamako in the south.
In the first incident, also in Gao, only the bomber was killed, though several people were injured.
The rebels are currently on the back foot, having ceded most of their urban strongholds and airports to allied French, Malian and other African troops.
The fighters, estimated to number several thousand, are suspected of trying to regroup in the remote desert of northern Mali, hiding in mountain ranges.