According to local broadcaster Geo News and the news agency Reuters, an explosion at a political party conference in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday resulted in at least 40 fatalities and more than 100 injuries.
In the hectic moments following the explosion, which happened when a suicide bomber broke into the location, footage showed injured persons being rescued and brought to an ambulance.
Approximately 400 party members were present when the explosion occurred at the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) workers’ conference in Bajaur’s Khar, according to sources. The injured have been sent to a local hospital, according to the police.
According to a police spokesman, the number may increase because so many people have been transported to the hospital in critical condition. According to a government official, seriously injured persons were being evacuated to Peshawar, the province capital, for better medical attention.
The area has been blocked off by law enforcement. Five ambulances had arrived at the scene, a rescuer had earlier reported.
The blast has claimed the life of Maulana Ziaullah, the local leader of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s party. While on stage, other leaders including Abdur Rasheed and former lawmaker Maulana Jamaluddin were unharmed. Party authorities asserted that Rehman, the leader of the party, was not at the rally.
Rehman, 70, is seen as a pro-Taliban preacher, and the coalition government that controls the country includes his political party. Political rallies are being planned in order to motivate supporters in advance of the next general elections in Pakistan.
Adam Khan, age 45, suffered splinters in both hands and his leg. He reported being knocked to the ground by the explosion to the AP news agency.
“There was all dust and smoke around and I was under some injured people from where I hardly (could stand) up but only to see chaos and some scattered limbs,” he averred.
Mohammad Wali claimed the loud explosion temporarily rendered him deaf as he was taking in a speaker’s message to the crowd.
“I was near the water dispenser to fetch a glass of water when the bomb exploded throwing me away to the ground,” he stated. “We came to the meeting with enthusiasm but ended up at the hospital seeing crying wounded people and sobbing relatives taking bodies of their loved ones.”
