QUETTA: A person was killed and 10 others, including women and children, were injured in a bomb blast in the city’s busy Masjid Road area on Saturday evening.

Police said that some unidentified people attached an explosive device to a motorcycle and parked it in the area near the Kandahar Bazaar crossing. They detonated the device by remote control.

All the victims were passing thro­ugh the area at the time of the blast.

Soon after receiving information about the blast, security personnel rushed to the area and shifted the body and the injured to Civil Hospital.

Personnel of the bomb disposal squad also reached the blast site and collected evidence from there.

Three cars, many motorcycles and some shops in the area were damaged in the incident. According to Civil Hospital’s spokesperson Dr Wasim Baig, one body and 10 injured were brought to the hospital.

The deceased was identified as Syed Nida Mohammad and the inju­red as Nawab Khan, Zarab Shah, Ms Tajala, Mohammad Saim, Niamat­ul­lah, Abdul Mateen, Syed Mir, Abdul Samad and Ali Khan. The identity of an injured woman could not be known.

Meanwhile, Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bezenjo and his Adviser on Home and Tribal Affairs Mir Ziaullah Langove condemned the bomb blast in Quetta. They expressed grief over the loss of a life. The chief minister sought a report on the blast and directed the inspector general of police to take measures for improving security situation in the city. He said elements involved in the blast would be brought to justice.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2021