Pakistan: Massive blast rips through bus, 9 Chinese nationals among several killed

By Team Newsable | First Published Jul 14, 2021, 2:20 PM IST

The incident took place at about 7:30 am when the bus was carrying over 30 people to the plant site.

At least 10 people, including at least nine Chinese nationals and two Pakistani soldiers, have been killed in a blast targeting a bus in a remote region of northern Pakistan, multiple sources told Reuters news agency, adding that the toll could rise.

According to Dawn.com, the bus was carrying workers to the Das Hydropower plant in the Upper Kohistan district.

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The incident took place at about 7:30 am when the bus was carrying over 30 people to the plant site.

Inspector General Moazzam Jah Ansari, the top police official of Khyber-Paktunkhwa, the province in which the incident occurred, confirmed the death of six Chinese nationals, two soldiers and two locals.

“The bus plunged into a deep ravine after the blast and caused heavy losses. One Chinese engineer and one soldier are missing. The rescue operation is launched, and the entire government machinery has been mobilised to rescue the injured by air ambulance,” a senior government official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The Das Hydropower Project is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $ 65 billion investment plan under the Beijing Belt and Road Initiative aimed at connecting western China with the port of Gwadar in southern Pakistan. Chinese engineers have been working with Pakistani construction workers on the Das hydropower project and several other projects for several years in the area where the explosion occurred.

An investigation is underway and more details are awaited.

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