14 killed in Rawalpindi suicide blast

ISLAMABAD:At least 14 people have been killed and 25 others injured in a suicide attack on a pick-up Suzuki van at Peshawar Road near Pirwadhai Morr on Monday evening. Thirteen people were pronounced in critical condition in two hospitals of Rawalpindi city. Body parts of dead and injured, blood and parts of vehicles were seen scattered on huge area around the place of the incident.Ball bearings and other iron particles were found at spot which guides investigators to declare it suicide bombing. The target of suicide bomber might be anywhere else but he failed to dodge the security around the capital and he blew himself at this spot, the police sources told Business Recorder.He said that there were threats of suicide bombing, but it was not being expected to occur at any public place. Besides the ill-fated Suzuki Pick-up, four other vehicles including Toyota Hiace, two Suzuki Mehran taxis and Nissan Taxi were damaged in the incident. Dozens of people standing at stop were affected by the suicide bombing.Police and other law enforcement agencies have cordoned off the area. Rescue teams of Rescue 1122, civil defence, police and bomb disposal squad reached on the spot and shifted the dead and injured to District Headquarter Hospital and Rawalpindi General Hospital (RGH). Moreover, they started collecting the sample of the explosive used in the incident and preserving the evidences.According to eyewitnesses, the suicide bomber, riding on a motorcycle came near the Suzuki pick-up (public vehicle) and blew himself up at Suzuki Stand located at Pirwadhai Morr, opposite Rescue 1122 office. Ten people died on spot. They said they have seen suicide bomber before he blew himself and he was a young man of 22 to 24 years.
Seven dead bodies and six packs of scattered decomposed body parts of many dead have been brought to District Headquarter Hospital besides 17 injured. Four critically injured people were shifted to operation theatre. Five bodies were brought to RGH along with ten injured.High police officials including Regional Police Officer (RPO) Nasir Durrani told reporters on the site and said that it was a suicide bomb blast. "We are collecting the material from the spot to get evidences," he said. City Police Officer (CPO) Inayat Farooqi also visited the site.Rescue 1122 spokesperson, Deba Shahnaz confirmed that Rescue 1122 has shifted ten dead and 17 injured to RGH and DHQ hospital. She said that it is not appropriate to tell the exact target of the blast but it was a suicide bombing incident as body parts were scattered in vast areas. She said the blast occurred at 9.03 pm and Rescue 1122 station located in front of the blast site responded quickly to start rescue work.