Staff Report
PESHAWAR: The funeral prayers of 27 martyred cops were offered in the police lines later on Monday evening.
The ground, normally used for parades and other activities of police, was lined with seven rows of coffins.
The funeral prayers were attended by junior and senior police and military officials along with locals, families, district administration officials, and provincial government officials.
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Parliamentary Leader Inayatullah said that they fear more people are trapped under the rubble of the collapsed section of the mosque.
Inayatullah said that they were trying to rescue all the people trapped under the debris of the mosque.
Units of the Pakistan Army have also been deployed in the area to offer assistance.
Emergency declared in Peshawar hospitals
Ambulances and rescue workers had rushed to the blast site. They said they shifted the dead bodies and injured people to the nearby Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) and the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH).
A spokesperson of Lady Reading Hospital, Muhammad Asim, said they have confirmed that 32 bodies and about 70 injured were brought to the hospital.
He added that about 15 of the injured people were in critical condition and were currently receiving treatment in the operation theater.
Meanwhile, Peshawar Deputy Commissioner Riaz Mehsood said that they had shifted 28 dead bodies and 150 injured people to various hospitals in the city, including KTH, LRH, and Hayatabad Medical Center.
He added that some of the injured were in critical condition and that the number of casualties could increase, with many believed to be trapped under the rubble of the collapsed section of the mosque.
The area is located in a highly secure area of Peshawar, with Police Secretariat and PTCL Colony nearby.
To access the area, people have to cross several police check posts. With no commercial area located within the police lines, only people with authorized access can enter the area.
Nature of Peshawar blast
While the police and other authorities have yet to explain what caused the explosion, Inayatullah suggested it could have been a suicide blast.
He said that they could smell burnt explosives inside the mosque while there was talk amongst officials that it was possibly a suicide bomb explosion.
While police said nothing could be said until the debris was cleared and investigations were completed, Federal Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said it was possibly a suicide bomb attack.
Officers said the blast emanated from the second row of worshippers, with bomb disposal teams probing the possibility of a suicide attack. As authorities work to identify the victims of the attack, one victim identified was the mosque’s prayer leader Maulana Sahibzada Noorul Amin.
