Explosives traces found, terrorism not ruled out: Pakistan bus blast

ISLAMABAD, July 16 (Gwadar Pro) – Terrorism cannot be ruled out as traces of explosives have been confirmed at the initial investigation into the bus blast in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on July 14, which killed 13 people, including nine Chinese workers, according to Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry.

In a tweet, Chaudhry said, “Prime Minister Imran Khan is personally supervising all developments. In this regard Pakistani Government is in close coordination with Chinese embassy. We are committed to fighting menace of terrorism together.”     

“China will send a joint working team on July 15 to Pakistan to assist with the related work,” said Zhao Lijian, the Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson on Thursday’s routine Press Conference.

Zhao added that “China is shocked by the heavy casualties caused by the blast. All efforts are required to rescue the wounded.”  

Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong and Pakistani Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood, visited the injured Chinese nationals from a blast at a hospital in Rawalpindi on Wednesday night.

Mahmood said that the Pakistani side will do its best to make sure the injured Chinese nationals get the best treatment.  

At around 7:00 a.m. local time July 14, a shuttle bus of the Dasu Hydropower Project under construction by a Chinese company, was hit by a blast when they were heading for the construction site in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, leaving nine Chinese nationals and three Pakistanis dead, according to the Chinese Embassy to Pakistan.