54 killed in Quetta blast (Second Lead)

ISLAMABAD - At least 54 people were killed and more than 100 injured in a blast that ripped through a procession taken out by the Shia community near Meezan chowk in Quetta, capital of Pakistan’s Balochistan province, media reports said.

Bomb disposal squad officials confirmed that the blast was caused by a suicide attacker who blew himself up. As many as 40 bodies were received by combined military hospital (CMH), 10 were brought to civil hospital, while Bolan medical complex received four bodies. However, no official was available to talk about the incident or confirm the death toll.

Driver of Aaj TV crew Muhammad Sarwar also died in the blast while several cameramen covering the procession were injured. City police authorities said the participants of the procession were asked to disperse, as per prior agreement, before Meezan chowk but they did not heed to it.

Angry participants of the procession resorted to firing in the air after the incident and also torched a government building. The DSNG van of a local TV channel was also fired at and its windscreen was shattered. However, the driver and other staff escaped unhurt.

Emergency has been declared in Quetta hospitals to cater to the situation. Because of Shia community processions scheduled across the country after Friday prayers, security was on high alert because of terror threats.

Earlier on Wednesday, three back-to-back blasts in Lahore in a Shia procession had killed more than 35 people and injured over 250 others.

(Awais Saleem can be contacted at ians.pakistan@gmail.com)