December 07, 2008	Sunday	Zilhaj 8, 1429

PESHAWAR, Dec 6: The death toll in the Peshawar bomb blast went up to 34 while the number of under-treatment patients was reported to be over 100 on Saturday, hospital sources said.

The sources said that 13 bodies recovered from the scene of Friday’s explosion had been sent to Orakzai Agency.

The sources said those who died in the bombing included an inspector of Intelligence Bureau, Shahid Ali.

According to hospital officials, 163 injured people were brought to the Lady Reading and the Khyber Teaching Hospitals and most of them were discharged after first aid, but over 100 were still under treatment. Some of them have been admitted to the burns units of the two hospitals.

Of the unidentified bodies, nine were shifted to a local mortuary. Four of them were later identified.Capital City Police Officer Safwath Ghayyur told Dawn that according to final report of the bomb disposal squad, 120 kilograms of explosives had been used in the blast.

He said the number plate, chassis and engine number of the double-cabin truck used in the blast were found to be fake.

City Circle SP Chaudhry Mohammad Ashraf said that police and staff of the Town-I were busy in removing the debris of destroyed buildings and they were also searching for more bodies. He said he himself had been supervising the rescue operation since the time of the blast.

He said an investigation team led by deputy superintendent of police Shah Nawaz Khan had already initiated work to ascertain who had carried out the crime. Chaudhry Ashraf said circumstantial evidence showed that the crime was motivated by sectarian consideration.

About the condition of crumbling buildings at the blast site, the SP said that a house had been demolished and some other buildings, including a girl middle school, would be demolished on Sunday. He said that officials of the Town-I including engineers had visited the site to decide about which building should be demolished or spared.

A traders’ leader, Mehr Ilahi, told reporters that about 200 shops had been destroyed in Kochi Bazaar, Mohammad Ali Jauhar Road Bazaar, Kabari Bazaar, Bazaar Misgaran and Qisakhwani Bazaar, Bilal Market, Ogri Market, Jamro Market, Agiritan Road.

Affected shopkeepers told newsmen that the financial loss to them was in millions of rupees.

Police have sealed the site and stretched barbed wire at all entry points from Qissakhwani, Mohammad Ali Jauhar Road, Church Road, Kabari Bazaar and Chitral Bazaar sides.

A huge crowd was witnessed around the blast site and at the Qissakhwani Bazaar on Saturday. A minority councillor, Mushtaq Masih, said his son was also injured in the blast and members of his community had taken part in the rescue operation.