11 killed in Quetta bus blast

QUETTA: Eleven people were killed and 23 others were injured when a bomb blast ripped through a passenger bus on the Saryab Road here on Monday night.
The Frontier Corps (FC) personnel surrounded the area and those wounded were given medical treatment while the Bomb Disposal Squad was also summoned to examine the area.The explosion came as night fell and people working in central Quetta left for their homes in the outskirts of the city.
“I can confirm that at least 10 people have been killed and 23 were injured in a bomb explosion in a bus,” Akbar Hussain Durrani, home secretary of Balochistan province, told AFP.
A senior police official and a hospital doctor confirmed the casualties. Durrani said the bus was loaded with labourers, but could not give any further details on how the explosion was detonated.“We suspect somebody had hidden a bomb in the back of the bus, but there are also chances that somebody was maybe carrying it,” Durrani said.
Senior police official Waheed Khatak told AFP the bomb exploded as the bus was passing near a flyover in the Saryab Road neighbourhood outside Quetta.Doctor Noor Baloch, a police surgeon, said all the 10 people were already dead by the time their bodies arrived in hospital, while 23 others had been wounded. “Five of the injured people are in critical condition,” he said.
Rescue personnel confirmed that two children were among the dead.The police officials said thatmore than 23 people had been injured. All the injured had been shifted to hospital.
An emergency had been declared in the city hospitals, while traffic remained suspended on the Saryab Road.Balochistan Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said the passengers were not pilgrims, who have long been targeted in militant attacks in the past.
The registration number of the bus was confirmed as BSA-348.Meanwhile, Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif expressed deep grief and sorrow over the sad demise of passengers due to the bomb blast hitting a bus in Quetta.
The prime minister, who is en route to the US on an official visit, prayed for eternal peace for the departed souls and commiserated with the bereaved families.He directed the authorities concerned to speed up the rescue efforts and provide special medical care to the injured.
Prime Minister Sharif also directed the law enforcing agencies to apprehend the culprits and bring them to justice. He expressed his resolve to eliminate terrorism and extremism from the country.