Pakistan: Eight killed in Hangu bus explosion

At least eight people were killed and three others injured in two consecutive explosions on Thursday. According to police, the explosions took place in Dorri Banda area. Officials said that the incident took place when a roadside bomb hit a passenger vehicle. Police and rescue teams rushed to the site and shifted the bodies and injured to the District HQs Hospital Hangu. Police said that at least four people were killed on the spot while some were critical and shifted to the hospital. Around 20 people were on board the vehicle that was coming from neighbouring Hangu city. Hospital officials said that the death toll might rise as some of the injured were in a critical condition. Police said ball bearings were used in the bomb that was detonated remotely. Rescue teams arrived at the scene soon after the blasts and shifted the bodies and injured to hospital. No group or militant organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack. Hangu has recently become target of such bomb attacks. In January this year six children were killed and one injured in a hand grenade attack in Hangu. The children, aged seven to 12, were playing near their house in the town of Hangu when the grenade exploded. Five boys and one girl were killed in the blast. One other child was injured. Syed Ahmed Jan, a senior local administration official had said, “The children were playing with a hand grenade they found on nearby open ground.” According to another police official said the children were members of the same family who had migrated from the neighbouring Orakzai Agency where the military was battling the Taliban. According to police, the children were playing with a “toy-shaped thing” inside their house and it exploded.