At Least 15 Killed, 30 Injured in Pakistan Bus Bombing

BY Frank

PESHAWAR, Pakistan —‎ At least 15 people were killed and more than 30 injured in a blast on a private commuter bus carrying government employees to their offices in Peshawar on Wednesday.

The blast was triggered by an approximately 22-pound explosive device that went off when the overcrowded commuter bus entered the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in northwest Pakistan, senior police officials said.

Peshawar Police Chief Abbas Majeed Marwat said the bus was carrying government employees to job sites in Peshawar from outside districts of the province when the blast took place.

A MAJEED

Pakistani volunteers search a destroyed bus after a bomb blast in Peshawar on March 16, 2016.

The injured were being transported to Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar.

Khalid Khan, the hospital's accident and emergency department director, told NBC News the facility received 11 bodies and around 30 injured.

"We declared an emergency in the hospital and called all the hospital staff to better handle this trauma," Khalid said.

He said some of the injured were in critical condition and feared that death toll could rise. The injured included three women and a child, Khalid said.

No militant group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Police said it was the third time buses carrying government employees has been targeted in Peshawar.