Pakistan: Bus Blast Kills At Least 12, Including Nine Chinese

At least 12 people, including nine Chinese citizens, have been killed after a bus carrying construction workers in Pakistan’s far north plunged into a ravine following an explosion, the Pakistani foreign ministry also said. The incident took place as a bus carried workers to the Dasu hydropower project in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

province, about 190km (118 miles) north of the capital, Islamabad, on Wednesday morning. The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear, with the Pakistani foreign ministry also saying that it took place due to a mechanical failure, while a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson referred to it as an attack. Local police

and administration officials also told the media that the cause of the explosion was still being investigated. This morning a bus also carrying Chinese workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, plunged into a ravine after a mechanical failure also resulting in leakage of gas that caused a blast, said a statement from Pakistan’s foreign ministry.

Beijing condemns bomb attack

Chinese authorities referred to the cause of explosion as an attack and also called for a full investigation by Pakistani law enforcement. Recently, our workers at a business on a certain project in Pakistan were attacked and have suffered deaths and injuries, said a statement from the Chinese foreign ministry, according to media.

We have notified Chinese citizens in Pakistan to avoid venturing outside unless required by work or business and pay special care to their safety. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said China was also shocked by and condemns the bomb attack in also the Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province the

media also reported. We mourn over the Chinese and the Pakistani personnel killed in the attack and express sympathies also to the bereaved families and also the wounded, Zhao said during a daily news briefing. We have demanded the Pakistani side get to the bottom of the incident, arrest and strictly punish the assailants as

soon as possible, and earnestly protect the safety of Chinese personnel, institutions and projects in Pakistan, Zhao added. The Dasu hydropower project is part of the $60bn China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), an extensive programme of infrastructure and the trade development between the two countries that has seen

China construct several power plants in the South Asian country. Road accidents are common in the far north of the Pakistan, where the incident also took place, with treacherous roads also with little or no safety barriers snaking through the Karakoram and also Himalayan mountain ranges.