The bus was rented by the government to ferry employees of the Civil Secretariat belonging to the neighbouring Charsadda district to and from Peshawar.
“Nearly 35 people had boarded the bus at its terminal in Peshawar Saddar,” Safiullah Khan, the superintendent of police (rural), told The Express Tribune.
“Some civilians also boarded the bus near Bacha Khan Chowk,” he added, referring to a roundabout in Peshawar. In all, 64 people were on board.
SP Shah said the blast occurred inside the bus, suggesting the bomb was planted on the four-wheeler.
His account was corroborated by the provincial information minister. “The bomb was planted under the bus,” Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain told reporters.
It was a homemade explosive device weighing around 10 kilogrammes, according to the head of the Bomb Disposal Squad.
The bus was en route to Charsadda and when it entered Gul Bela village, in the jurisdiction of the Daudzai police station around Friday noon, a powerful blast tore off its back end, officials said.
The blast also destroyed the main gates of several houses dotting both sides of the road, though there was no casualty there. Muhammadullah, 48, a police official on the bus, said there was a deafening sound.
“Even as smoke filled the bus we could feel pieces of human flesh hitting our bodies,” Muhammadullah told AFP while being treated for head and shoulder injuries at Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital (LRH).
Arsalan, a junior clerk in the provincial auditor general’s office, said he remembered asking the driver to stop at a mosque on the road for Juma prayers just before the explosion took place.
“I don’t remember what happened next because I fainted and (found myself) in a hospital bed,” said Arsalan, also with head and neck injuries.
Eyewitnesses recalled gory scenes at the site. “Around 12.45pm I was going to the local mosque to offer Friday prayers. A bus cruised past me and seconds later I heard an earsplitting explosion,” Mubarrak Shah told The Express Tribune.
“I saw eight mutilated bodies lying on both sides of the bus,” he recalled.
Local residents complained about the late response of police to the incident. “Despite repeated telephone calls, police came in around 40 minutes after the blast,” Farhad, a local taxi driver, told The Express Tribune.
Villagers shuttled the casualties to hospitals in Charsadda and Peshawar in private vehicles on a self-help basis.
Eleven dead – six women, four men and a two-year-old girl – were received at the LRH, according to Dr Shiraz, the head of the casualty ward. Another 15 people were being treated for their wounds.
Among the women victims were a schoolteacher, a staff nurse and a midwife who worked at the LRH.
Eighteen casualties – eight dead and 20 injured – were shifted to the district headquarters hospital in Charsadda.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani condemned the terrorist attack and expressed sorrow over the loss of lives. The two leaders directed best possible treatment for the injured.
Friday’s bombing was the deadliest attack in months on Peshawar, which has long been a flashpoint for a Taliban insurgency.
The attack came a day after a remote-controlled explosion killed at least 14 people outside a madrassa in the Balochistan capital.
(WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM AGENCIES)
Published in The Express Tribune, June 9th, 2012.
COMMENTS (14)
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@Prakash: Yes, OK. The thousands of dead innocents from drone attacks are only collateral damage. Shucks, nothing to worry about. Prakash, I am sorry but people with your attitude really worry me. It is obvious that you and your loved ones are not in the U.S. drone firing line.
@pagall: There is a slight difference between the two - if you care to see it. The drones are trying to kill militants who kill the innocents. Militants just kill the innocents. There is a difference in the final intent.
There is no difference in US and Militants. Both r killing innocent people. One with Drone strikes and Other with IEDs
These people do not have the slightest right to be called a "Human",- let alone the term "Muslims".
As you sow,so shall you reap
Stop issuing permits and visas to Americans / foreigners unnecessarily, and these life-taking bomb blasts will stop.
These are only deadening the feelings of citizens and there will come a day when "enough is enough' will become the catchword. Then the citizens will no longer tolerate the loss of their loved ones' and will catch and lynch every foreigner and political party activist.
If Afghanistan and India want to pursue the American policy let them, we will take care of both of them. Nevertheless, this present impasse, of not stopping Americans / foreigners with weapons from going to Quetta and Peshawar, is quite hard to swallow. Stop them they must.
The citizens of Peshawar and Quetta are our brothers and sisters and are being killed. Why? Because the GOP is unable to say 'no.' This is a 'cul de sac' and has to open up. Salams
And these tribals also want to make Karachi another tribal lawless area.
This is America's war and the fanatics are only targeting their enemies. The broken record "they cannot be Muslims as Islam does not allow this" has become very old. Unless these terrorists are eliminated they would continue killing our civilians irrespective of their age and gender. When would more than half a million strong army with all the toys and perks is going to notice this ongoing slaughter of dozens of civilians every other day? Why do we need such huge army, missiles and nuclear weapons if even our citizens are not safe? Why would the money be used to arm every household to defend themselves?
*so sad....R.I.P *
I ask all those who shout horse on drone attacks as to what have they to say for these killers who are killing innocents with such impunity. They do not even spare mosques. Does this hits the ghairat of any one?
I want an apology.
Friday is communally chosen for these acts of barbarianism perceived to be a ‘way to heaven’ by killing innocents on a 'holy day'. We keep blaming ‘others’ and remain in denial of our own role in all this and thus doing nothing.
Why do people still think that the drone strikes are bad? We NEED to exterminate these parasites. There can be NO negotiations with terrorists.