At least 11 people, including 6 women and 4 children, were killed and several others injured when a truck they were travelling in exploded allegedly after a hand grenade attack by unidentified men in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi, police said.
The incident happened on Saturday in Karachi’s Baldia town when the victims were returning home in the truck after attending a marriage ceremony.
Conflicting reports appeared as to how the explosion took place. One report said that some unidentified people had thrown hand grenades at the truck while others said the truck exploded from inside, police said.
“Eleven people had been killed in the explosion which was thought to be the result of a grenade attack,” Imran Yaqoob Minhas, Capital City Police Officer, told reporter.
“I can confirm that 11 bodies have been recovered including six women and four children from the explosion site while 12 have been injured and some are in critical condition,” he added.
Minhas said they don’t know the exact nature of the blast and investigations have started but eyewitnesses say they saw some people on a motorcycle throw the hand grenades and speed away.
Senior official of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), Raja Umer Khattab said it appeared to be a terrorist attack to spread fear and panic in the city.
“From what we know is that the truck was loaded with 20-25 people when the explosion took place. These people were returning home after attending a marriage ceremony,” he said.
Khattab said 10 bodies had been moved to the hospital while the injured were also shifted for treatment.
“The dead bodies include four boys aged between 10-12 years of age,” he said.
He said the hand grenade had apparently exploded before it hit the floor of the truck. Jang newspaper quoted an official of the Bomb Disposal Squad as saying that they suspected the explosion was the result of a bomb blast as they had found shrapnels, nails and bolts in the wreckage of the truck and these are commonly used in locally made bombs.
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