At least 25 people were killed and 35 others injured in an explosion in Pakistan's Balochistan province today. The blast took place in Mustung, some 90 km from Quetta.
According to reports, the injured included the Senate's Deputy Chairman Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidri. He was returning from an event at a seminary near the site of the blast.
District Health Officer in Mastung Sher Zaman said that 25 bodies have been shifted to two hospitals in Quetta.
"More than 35 were also injured," he added.
Earlier, Mastung Hospital Public Relation Officer Malik Jibran said over 35 injured were brought to the hospital. He said more than 15 injured were in critical condition.
Senior police officer Abdul Razzaq Cheema said Haideri was slightly injured and he has been shifted to the Combined Military Hospital in Quetta.
"I am alive, Allah has saved my life, it was a sudden blast, broken pieces of the windscreen hit me, I am injured but safe. The driver and other people sitting next to me were badly injured," Haideri later told SAMAA TV.
"I am sorry for the death of innocent of people," said Haideri, who belongs to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazal (JUI-F) of Maulana Fazlur Rehman. Most of the people killed were workers of his party.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Maulana Fazulr Rehman condemned the attack on Haideri and said today's attack was not the first on the party.
