PESHAWAR:An apparently powerful suicide blast here at the mosque of Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines on Monday martyred 32 worshipers, including policemen, and injured over 150 others during the Zuhr (afternoon) prayer.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Ghulam Ali while talking to reporters at the site of the blast earlier in the day confirmed the death toll as 28. However, LRH spokesmen Muhammad Asim later in the day said four more injured admitted to the Lady Reading Hospital lost their battle for life, raising the death toll to 32.
The casualty figure might further rise as the condition of the 15 injured was also critical, the hospital spokesman added.
The explosion was so powerful that the front portion of the mosque, located in the Red Zone, was razed to the ground.
The blast occurred in the front row of the worshipers.
The governor said some of the victims were still buried under the debris and the rescue workers were trying to retrieve them. He appealed to the people, particularly those having O negative blood group, to donate blood.
The KP Health Department imposed emergency in all three major hospitals of Peshawar.
Commissioner Peshawar Riaz Mehsud told journalists that there was no shortage of medicines in hospitals and the operation was underway to rescue the worshippers buried under the debris.
According to the LRH spokesman, the dead brought to the hospital included Inspector Doran Shah, ASI Liaquat Khan, prayer leader (Imam) Moulana Sahibzada Noorul Amin, Shahryar son of Muhammad Islam, resident of Gulshan Colony Peshawar, Muhammad Ali son of Sharafat Ali, resident of Mian Ganj, Inspector Zahir Shah, Nasim Shah son of Moin Shah, resident of Charsadda, Gul Sharaf Khan, Masood Ahmed son of Din Muhammad, resident of Khazana Peshawar, Abdul Wadood son of Ghulam Nabi and Liaquatullah son of Ahmad Shah, resident of Lakki Marwat.
The people in a large number thronged the hospital to inquire about the health of their loved ones and donate blood. The
LRH spokesman, however, urged the families of the victims to avoid rushing to the hospital so that hassle-free treatment could be provided to the injured being shifted to different wards, including emergency and trauma.
The spokesman urged blood donors of O negative group to come to the hospital for blood donation.
KP Chief Minister Muhammad Azam Khan, meanwhile, strongly condemned the blast and directed the hospital administrations to provide the best treatment to the victims. He also prayed for eternal peace to the martyred and fortitude for their families, besides early recovery of the injured.