2nd LD Writethru: 15 killed, 35 injured as blast hits hospital in SW Pakistan
Xinhua, August 8, 2016 Adjust font size:
At least 15 people were killed and 35 others injured when a blast hit a hospital in Pakistan's southwest Quetta city on Monday morning, local Urdu media reported.
Geo News said that the blast happened at about 9:50 a.m. (local time) when people were shifting the body of a local law association chairman to the civil hospital of Quetta, the capital city of the country's southwest Balochistan province.
The blast happened outside the emergency ward of the hospital.
The slain lawyer Bilal Kasi was on his way to office when some unknown gunmen opened fire on his car in Manno Jan Road of Quetta.
The gunmen fled the scene after the attack.
Hospital sources said that the killed people included a local TV channel's cameraman while the injured included journalists, lawyers and hospital staff.
Some media reports said that the explosion was carried out by a suicide bomber, but the nature of the blast has not been officially confirmed yet.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
Police have rushed to the blast site for investigations.
Chief Minister Balochistan Sanaullah Zehri condemned the blast and sought report from the concerned authorities.
Following the attack, the lawyers in the province boycotted court procedures. Endit