Dozens killed in Pakistan hospital blast

A bomb blast at a Pakistani hospital killed dozens of people and wounded others on Monday (August 8) in Quetta, the capital of the violence-plagued south-western province of Baluchistan.

Broadcaster Geo tv said at least 40 people were killed. Police put the figure at more than 30.

The bomb exploded as mourners, mostly lawyers and journalists, gathered to accompany the body of Bilal Anwar Kasi, a prominent lawyer, who was shot and killed in the frontier city earlier on Monday, an eyewitness said.

More than 50 mourners were entering the emergency department of the hospital to accompany Kasi’s body when the bomb went off, Faridullah, a journalist who was at the scene, told Reuters.

The motive behind the attack was unclear and no group claimed responsibility.

Television footage from the site showed scenes of chaos, with panicked mourners fleeing through debris as smoke filled the corridors of the hospital’s emergency ward.

Kasi was shot and killed while on his way to the main court complex in Quetta, senior police official Nadeem Shah told Reuters.

Targeted killings have become increasingly common in Quetta, the capital of a province that has seen rising violence linked to a separatist insurgency as well as sectarian tensions and rising crime.