Pakistan

22 killed, 47 injured in Swat bomb blast

Police earlier stated it was a cylinder blast, but later confirmed it was a bomb.

Reuters/fazal Khaliq/web Desk January 10, 2013

Inside the Tableeghi Markaz, the site of the blast which killed 19 people. PHOTO: FAZAL KHALIQ/EXPRESS

SWAT: At least 22 people were killed and 47 injured in a blast in the Mingora city of Swat district on Thursday, confirmed officials at Saidu Sharif Hospital.

The explosion took place at the main Tableeghi Markaz (preaching centre) located on the Takht Band Road.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) spokesperson and police termed the blast as a gas cylinder explosion.

According to eyewitnesses, people were getting ready for their preaching session when a gas cylinder in the kitchen of the Markaz exploded. Additional eyewitness say it may have been a suicide blast.

“After the explosion, people started running frantically while some ran to the spot of the explosion to rush the injured to the hospital,” a person told The Express Tribune.

Police initially said the blast was caused by an exploding gas cylinder but later police chief Akhtar Hayat confirmed it was a bomb.

Rahman Ali, a medical practitioner in Saidu Group of Hospitals, said that more than 50 injured people were brought to the hospital where 10 critically injured succumbed to their injuries.