RAWALPINDI Police are hunting 'a would-be suicide bomber,' who they suspect was to strike along with the one who blew himself up at a religious congregation in Chakwal on Sunday but got scared and fled, a senior official said.

The police official confirmed that it was believed that there were two bombers; one detonated the explosive device while the other disappeared from the scene, apparently out of fear.

'Since a suspected bomber is missing, the police in the Rawalpindi division have been put on red alert and a hunt has been launched to trace the missing man.'

Meanwhile, at least 18 of the injured victims of the Chakwal suicide attack were brought to different hospitals in Rawalpindi, where one of them died, hospital authorities and police said.

The death toll might rise further as two of the wounded persons admitted to Rawalpindi hospitals were said to be in critical condition.

Of the 18, six were brought to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ). One of them identified as Kamran Hussain, 22, died in the hospital.

Seven others were shifted to the Benazir Bhutto Hospital; one to the Holy Family Hospital, and four to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH).

A 12-year-old boy identified by a single name, Gohar, was brought to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad, where he was said to be in stable condition.

The injured were shifted to Rawalpindi hospitals in Rescue 1122 ambulances, though arrangements had also been made to airlift them from Chakwal to Islamabad.