Injured people receive medical treatment at a hospital following a suicide blast in southwest Pakistan's Quetta, on June 23, 2017. At least 11 people including five policemen were killed and 20 others injured including two children in a suicide blast near a police check post in Quetta Friday morning, officials said. (Xinhua/Asad)
ISLAMABAD, June 23 (Xinhua) -- At least 11 people including five policemen were killed and 16 others injured in a suicide blast that hit a check post in Pakistan's southwest city of Quetta on Friday, officials and local media said.
Spokesman of the Civil Hospital of Quetta Waseem Baig confirmed that at least 11 bodies and 10 wounded people were in the hospital, adding that the death toll might further rise as four of the injured are in critical condition.
Baig said that initially five bodies and 16 injured were brought to the hospital, but later six of the wounded succumbed to their injuries during the treatment, increasing the death toll to 11.
According to the hospital official, at least two children and some policemen were also among the injured.
Some people with minor injuries were given on-the-spot treatment and were not brought to the hospital, rescue officials told local media.
Deputy Inspector General of Police, Abdul Razzaq Cheema, said that the incident took place at around 9:00 a.m. local time (0400 GMT) when a suicide bomber exploded his explosives-laden vehicle at a check post near the office of police chief at the Gulistan Road of the city.
"We assume that the bomber wanted to reach the police chief office to attack it, but when policemen stopped the car at the check post for checking, the vehicle was exploded with a big bang," said the police officer.
Cheema further said the investigators were analyzing the videos of surveillance cameras installed in the city to know the route of the vehicle.
Soon after the blast, rescue teams, police and security forces rushed to the site and shifted the bodies and injured to the hospital. Following the blast, a state of emergency was declared in all the hospitals in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province.
The blast spread panic in the city as its sound was heard miles away from the site. The blast also destroyed two vehicles parked close to the check post and damaged several buildings, including a school which was closed due to summer vacations.
Spokesperson of Pakistan's southwest province of Balochistan, Anwaar ul Haq Kakar, said the security was already at high alert in the city after some intelligence reports of entering of an explosives-laden vehicle into the city.
Police and security forces cordoned off the site and launched a search operation in the surrounding areas.
Bomb Disposal Squad of police was collecting evidence from the blast site to know more about the incident.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast yet.
Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack and expressed deep grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives in the blast and prayed for eternal peace of the departed souls and grant of courage to the bereaved families to bear this irreparable loss.
The prime minister also directed the authorities concerned to provide best possible medical treatment to the injured.
"These cowardly attacks are a sign of growing frustration of terrorists and extremists. Such elements deserved no mercy and would meet their fate soon in view of the unflinching and united resolve of the entire nation against terrorism and extremism," said the prime minister, adding that enemy of Pakistan would not be allowed to hinder the unprecedented progress and development under way in Balochistan.
