37 dead, 80 injured in Peshawar explosions

ISLAMABAD (PAN): Thirty-seven people were killed and scores of others wounded in two back-to-back explosions on Sunday in Pakistan‘s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, bordering the eastern Afghan town of Torkham.

At least 37 people were killed and 80 others were injured, some of them critically, in the powerful blasts that happened near a police station in the crowded locality of Qissa Khwani, Peshawar Commissioner Sahibzada Anis told journalists at the site.

Coming a week after twin suicide attacks that killed 80 people in the troubled city, the blasts created panic among residents of the neighbourhood. Rescue officials evacuated the injured to the nearby Lady Reading Hospital. 

Geo TV reported the explosives had been placed in a vehicle parked near the police station. It quoted rescuers as saying children were among the victims. Several vehicles and adjacent buildings were damaged.

The explosion took place at 11am, setting aflame at least eight shops, where women — accompanied by children — were shopping. Police cordoned off the site and started collecting evidence.

Police confirmed women and children were among the victims. An emergency was declared by the Lady Reading Hospital administration as the casualties arrived.

Minister of Health Shaukat Yousafzai said the police station was the apparent target of the two blasts, which drew instant condemnation from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Last week, twin explosions at All Saints Church in the Kohati gate area killed 80 people and wounded over 100 others. The victims included children and women.

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