Quetta (June 23, 2017): Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Police of Quetta Abdul Razaq Cheema has informed the media that eyewitnesses has told the Police that it was a car blast.
Talking to media after visiting the blast site, DIG Abdul Razzaq Cheema said that it was a suicide blast as per eye witnesses, however, investigation into the matter is underway. He said that the explosion has damaged two vehicle and nearby buildings while security has also been beefed up across the province.
According to him , one of the vehicles was completely destroyed. Police was trying to ascertain through CCTV footage that how blast occurred, he added.
Replying about the nature of the Blast, he said that it was premature to say anything about the nature of the blast, however he quoted eye witness and said that according to them it was car blast.
Meanwhile, Spokesman Balochistan government Anwar-ul-Haq Kaker said that the blast was very powerful.
He added that the blast occurred at a check post. Kaker said that when a vehicle was asked to stop at the check post, a blast occurred with loud bang.
IG FC also visited the blast site and inspected the damaged vehicles and other evidence.
Earlier at least 11 people were killed and 12 other injured, when a powerful blast went off near IG Office at Shuhada Chowk in Quetta.
Click Play Button to Watch this Video
According to the details, the blast took place inside a car that was parked near the office. More than 10 injured have been shifted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) for medical assistance so far while others are being transferred to other hospitals as well.
Arriving at the scene, security personnel cordoned off the entire area and launched an operation to collect the evidence.
Security sources said that a vehicle was completely destroyed in the blast. As a body was also found inside the vehicle, they suspect it might be a suicide car blast.
Rescue sources said that nine people were killed in the blast and several other injured. The victims included five policemen and a minor girl.
The injured were shifted to Civil Hospital Quetta.
Soon after the blast security forces personnel rushed to the site and cordoned off the area. Rescue workers also rushed to the blast site and started shitting the injured to nearby hospitals.
Emergency was also declared at Civil Hospital. Security at and outside the hospital was also beefed up.
A doctor at Emergency Department of Civil Hospital Quetta Rozina told Abb Takk that several injured were brought to Civil Hospital, where they were being given treatment.
She said that condition of many of the injured was critical. She apprehended that the death toll of the blast many go up.
Police spokesman Shahzada Farhat said the death toll was expected to rise as some of the wounded were listed in critical condition. He said officers were still trying to determine whether it was a car bomb.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan strongly condemned the Quetta blast and prayed for the early recovery of the injured.
Chief Minister of Punjab (CM) Shehbaz Sharif and Chief Minister Balochistan Nawab Sanaullah Khan Zehri also denounced the explosion and expressed grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives.
No one has claimed responsibility, but Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and ISIS have previously targeted the province, which for over a decade has been the scene of a low-intensity insurgency.
Related News:
http://abbtakk.tv/en/9-killed-12-injured-in-blast-near-ig-office-quetta/
