The death toll from a suspected suicide bomb blast at Pakistan’s Balochistan province has climbed to 52, officials and media reports said.
The powerful bomb exploded on Friday near a mosque in Mastung district of Balochistan, wounding dozens of others, including many in critical condition, local officials said, reports Al Jazeera.
Abdul Rasheed, a district health official, claimed at least 52 people had died in the blast and 58 others were wounded.
Rasheed said the toll could further rise as many people were in a serious condition.
“It seems a suicide attack” senior local police officer Javed Lehri, adding that the bomber blew himself up near the vehicle of Deputy Superintendent of Police Nawaz Gishkori.
Balochistan’s government administrator Atta Ullah said a senior police officer, Mohammad Nawaz, was among the dead. The injured were taken to nearby hospitals, he said.
The country’s interior ministry confirmed a blast carried out by “terrorist elements” in Balochistan.
“The attack on innocent people who came to participate in the procession of Eid Milad-un-Nabi is a very heinous act,” it said in a statement, referring to the prophet’s birthday.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
Unverified images and videos emerging in the aftermath of the blast showed a number of bloodied corpses and what looked like severed limbs strewn about as onlookers assessed the damage.
Balochistan interim Information Minister Jan Achakzai said rescue teams have been dispatched to Mastung.
Critically injured persons are being transferred to Quetta and an emergency has been imposed in all the hospitals, he added.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
