Home »Top Stories » Blast kills 20 Zaireen in Mastung

At least 20 pilgrims were killed and 25 others injured, nine of them critically, when a remote controlled bomb planted in a car was exploded in Mastung on Sunday. According to Balochistan Home Secretary Capt Akbar Hussain Durrani (retd), the bomb blast targeted an Iran-bound convoy of buses with 180 pilgrims aboard, which was coming from Quetta, in Dreengarh area of Mastung district.

One of the buses was completely burnt, while the other two were also affected. "Nineteen pilgrims were burnt to death and could not be identified," he said.

The rescue and law enforcement personnel rushed to the site and rescued the pilgrims. They shifted the dead and the injured to Bolan Medical Complex hospital.

Talking to media persons, the Home Secretary said that the remote-controlled explosive was used to target the pilgrims' bus. He denied the news that a suicide bomber attacked the bus. "According to the Bomb Disposal Squad, about 100 kg explosives were used in the blast and the bomb-laden car was exploded by a remote," he added.

The BMC Hospital officials identified the injured as Muhammad Nawaz, Abbas Shah, Yasir, Shehzada, Tahira Bibi, Kalsoom, Shamim Batool, Parvin Akhtar, Muhammad Latif, Muhammad Israr, Sajid Ali, Hurmat Iqbal, Sarfaraz Ali, Safeer Hussain, Syed Jaffar Hussain, Muhammad Iqbal, Sher Hayat, Tahir Ali, Muhammad Aslam, Farhat, Manzoor and Khizar Hayat. However, the identity of the dead could not be ascertained as the charred bodies were brought to the hospital morgue.

The Home Department sources told APP that the victims belonged to Lahore, Multan, Jhang, Chaniot, Lala Musa, Sargodha, Gujrat and Gujranwala. Earlier, they reached Quetta and on Sunday morning, they left for border town of Taftan for entering Iran to visit the spiritual places. The Mastung Levies Force registered a case and started investigation into the incident.

Copyright Associated Press of Pakistan, 2012


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