Kids Among 7 Dead In Pak Madrasa Blast, 70 Injured

Islamabad: An explosion at a madrasa in Peshawar, Pakistan killed at least seven people and wounded 70 others, many of them children, on Tuesday.

The blast occurred at Speen Jamaat mosque, which also serves as a madrasa for local children, at 8.30 am local time, Al Jazeera quoted an unnamed police officer as saying.

“It was not a suicide attack. There were explosives that had been kept in a bag there,” the officer said.

TV footage from the scene of the blast showed significant damage to the interior of the mosque’s main prayer hall, with pockmarks dotting the ceiling and debris strewn across the floor.

Provincial Health Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra said the wounded were being treated at Lady Reading Hospital, the city’s main government hospital.

“There have been 72 (wounded) patients brought to LRH, and there have been seven unfortunate deaths, including children” Jhagra told reporters at the hospital.

“Our sole focus right now is for the injured patients to be given the best possible care and so that they have the best chance to recover,” he added.