50 killed and dozens injured in Pakistan Mastung blast
The blast happened near a mosque in the south-western Balochistan province on Friday as people gathered to celebrate the birth of the Prophet Muhammad.
Officials in Balochistan have declared a state of emergency. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Meanwhile, a separate blast has taken place at a mosque near Peshawar City in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Footage from the scene in the Baloch city of Mastung showed injured people being rescued by emergency responders and locals.
"Bodies were lying on top of one another," said Saifullah, a local journalist in his 40s.
"The crowd was waiting for a [celebratory] procession to begin. I was standing nearby when the bomb went off," he said, adding that 10 to 12 of his relatives died.
Haibullah, 22, was injured in the attack. Speaking from his hospital bed in Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan, he said: "Everything was ready on the stage. The bomb went off two minutes after I arrived.
"Everyone fell from its impact. I broke my foot."
Sarfaraz Ahmed Sasoli, in his 20s, was part of security for the procession. He said the suicide bomber approached the area while religious leaders were gathering.
"My elder and younger brothers were injured, along with my friends. Everyone from our area has a brother, father or son injured," he said.
Local hospitals were overwhelmed by the number of casualties and local authorities appealed on social media for blood donations.
Balochistan's police chief Abdul Khaliq Sheikh confirmed the explosion was a suicide blast. He said a senior police officer was killed while trying to stop the attacker.
Pakistan's Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti said the blast was a "very heinous act" and condemned what he called "terrorist attacks" in both areas.
0 Comment