PESHAWAR: At least eight students of a religious seminary were killed and around 100 others injured when a powerful blast occurred inside the hall of the mosque during religious lecture at Dir Colony, Kohat Road here on Tuesday.
Police officials and Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) sources have confirmed the death of eight students and injuries to nearly 95 others. Police said it was an IED explosion that occurred during the lecture of Maulana Rahim Ullah, who had survived in the incident miraculously.
According to Assistant Inspector General (AIG) Bomb Disposal Squad, Shafqat Malik, 4 to 5 kilograms explosive was used in the blast through a time device.
The Spokesman LRH, Muhammad Asim said a total of 103 victims were brought to the hospital among which seven were dead while another expired during treatment while 95 were still under treatment. He said the condition of five injured was critical.
He said five of the dead were identified as Muhammad Zahoor, resident of Waziristan, Muhammad Arif, son of Gul Shan, resident of Khyber district, Naimat Khan, son of Saifur Rehman from Afghanistan, Zubair son of Habibullah resident of Afghanistan and Maroof Khan son of Awal Khan, resident of Mashokhel, Peshawar. Provincial Health Minister, Saleem Taimur Jhagra after visiting the Lady Reading Hospital strongly condemned the blast and told the media that best possible treatment facilities were being provided to the injured of the blast.
He said many of the injured were received with burn injuries adding lethal chemicals and components were used in the IED to cause maximum damage to human life.
Soon after the explosion a state of emergency was declared in all major hospitals including LRH, Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) and Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC).
Talking to media at the site of the incident, the provincial government's spokesman Kamran Bangash said a suspected man was reportedly seen entering the seminary around 08:00 am with a bag in his hand.
The man placed the bag inside the hall and left the premises and after some time the bomb concealed inside the bag exploded. The victims aging 20 to 28 years were in the last stage of their course completion
Meanwhile, KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has strongly condemned the blast and said that perpetrators of this inhuman act would soon be brought to justice. He has also announced a cash compensation of Rs 0.5 million for the heirs of each died person while an amount of Rs 0.2 million would be paid to each injured person.
He said that police were thoroughly investigating the incident from all aspects and expressed the hope that perpetrators behind this inhuman act would soon be brought to justice.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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