PESHAWAR – Nine Chinese workers are among 13 people killed today when a blast on a bus sent the vehicle down a ravine in northwestern Pakistan, said officials.
The bus was carrying Chinese engineers, surveyors and mechanical staff to the under-construction Dasu dam site in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“The blast sparked a fire in the engine, plunging the vehicle into a ravine,” a local government official, who requested anonymity, told AFP.
He said a further 28 Chinese nationals are injured.
A senior local police official, who also asked not to be named, confirmed the incident, saying: “It was a heavy blast, but its nature is not yet known.”
The Chinese embassy in Pakistan posted a statement, saying “a certain project of a Chinese firm in Pakistan suffered an attack, which caused the deaths of Chinese nationals”.
It urged Chinese companies to strengthen their security procedures.
The security of Chinese workers has long been an issue of concern in Pakistan, into which Beijing has poured tens of billions of dollars in recent years.
Large numbers of Chinese nationals are now based in the country to supervise and build infrastructure projects. – AFP, July 14, 2021
