PARACHINAR: Around 20 people have been killed and over 50 are injured in a powerful explosion that ripped through a crowded marketplace in Parachinar Kurram tribal agency, according to officials said.
Kurram Agency’s political administration has confirmed the death toll and said the injured were shifted to the agency headquarters hospital. There is shortage of doctors and medical facilities in the hospital. The death toll is expected to rise. Dr. Sabir Hussain at the Parachinar main hospital said 11 critically wounded people who were brought from the vegetable market blast site died while being treated. He said several of the wounded were in serious condition and being shifted to other hospitals for better care.
The explosion occurred at 8:50AM at the city's Eidgah market, where a large number of people were shopping for fruit and vegetable. An IED that was placed in a vegetable box which blew up.
Shahid Khan, an assistant tribal administrator, said the explosion took place when the market was crowded with retailers buying fruits and vegetables from a wholesale shop. He said the attack was being investigated.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military's media wing, said six people had been killed while 20 were injured in the blast, which it said was carried out through an improvised explosive device (IED).
"Army and FC Quick Reaction Force reached at incident site and cordoned off the area. Army helicopters flown for medical evacuation of injured to hospitals," said the ISPR.
PM Nawaz Sharif has expressed grief over the loss of life and directed concerned authorities to provide medical treatment to the injured at all costs.
Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has condemned the blast and ordered for a detailed report regarding the incident. He further said that those involved in the gruesome incident would not be spared.
Ashiq Hussain, who was lightly wounded, was being treated in Parachinar hospital. He said he was purchasing fruits and vegetables loaded on a van when the explosion took place. "There was big bang and dark cloud of smoke and dust I saw before passing out."
After coming back into his senses Hussain said he saw bleeding bodies, severed limbs and heard cries. "I was just bleeding from my leg," he said. "Thank God I am alive."
No group has immediately claimed responsibility of the attack.
According to a Shiite leader Faqir Hussain, all the bodies have been brought to a Shiite mosque.
A similar blast at the Eidgah Market in December 2015, killed 25 people and injured 70 others. Parachinar is mainly a Shiite area of Pakistan's Northwestern Tribal Belt.
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