In a preliminary probe of a bus blast that killed 13 people including nine Chinese nationals, Pakistan said traces of explosives were confirmed, and an act of terrorism cannot be ruled out. Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry’s remarks came a day after the all-weather allies, Pakistan and China, offered conflicting views on the possible causes of the fatal accident. China called the mishap a bomb attack, whereas Pakistan claimed the explosion was the result of a gas leak.
In the Upper Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Chinese engineers and construction workers are helping Pakistan build a dam as part of the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) on Wednesday. There are now confirmed signs of explosives at the scene of the Dassu incident, so terrorism cannot completely be ruled out. The Prime Minister (Imran Khan) is personally supervising all developments, and the government is working closely with the Chinese Embassy.
When the bus carrying Chinese engineers and workers to the site of the under-construction Dassu Dam exploded, at least 13 people, including nine Chinese and two Frontier Corps soldiers, were killed and 39 others injured. After the explosion, the bus fell into a deep ravine. On Thursday, China said it is sending a special team to Pakistan to investigate the blast. Meanwhile, a Chinese national was missing and the location of his whereabouts was being sought, according to a report in Dawn. So far, there has been no confirmation from the authorities on the missing person. The Pakistani Foreign Office confirmed on Wednesday that a ‘leakage of gas’ caused by a ‘mechanical failure’ resulted in the blast in the bus.
Wang Yi and Shah Mahmood Qureshi discussed the incident on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers meeting at Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on Wednesday. Wang said that the Chinese side was shocked by the incident, and hoped that the Pakistani side would be able to determine its cause quickly, conduct rescue and treatment work at all costs, deal with its aftermath promptly, and prevent similar incidents in the future. According to the Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua, a preliminary investigation shows it was an accident. No background of terrorist attacks was found, Qureshi said.
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Since 2015, Pakistan and China have been executing several high-value projects under the CPEC. According to reports, the projects have sparked resentment among separatists, who claim there has been little benefit to local people, and that the jobs created by the projects have gone to foreigners. Targeted attacks have occurred on Chinese workers and officials involved in various projects. A suicide bomber targeted the Chinese ambassador’s hotel in Quetta in April. The envoy was not injured as he was outside the hotel at the time of the attack. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast.
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