Iran Press/ Asia: The blast, which ripped through a Sunni mosque inside a major police facility in the city of Peshawar, was one of the deadliest attacks on Pakistani security forces in recent years.
It left as many as 225 wounded, some still in serious condition in hospital, according to Kashif Aftab Abbasi, a senior officer in Peshawar.
More than 300 worshippers were praying in the mosque, with more approaching, when the bomber set off his explosives vest on Monday morning, officials said.
The explosion blew off part of the roof, and what was left soon caved in, injuring many more, according to Zafar Khan, a police officer.
Rescuers had to remove mounds of debris to reach worshippers still trapped under the rubble.
More bodies were retrieved overnight and early Tuesday, according to Mohammad Asim, a government hospital spokesman in Peshawar, and several of those critically injured died. “Most of them were policemen,” Asim said of the victims.
Counter-terrorism police are investigating how the bomber was able to reach the mosque, which is in a walled compound, inside a high-security zone with other government buildings.
Abbasi, a security official in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, of which Peshawar is the capital said: There was a security lapse and the inspector-general of the police has set up an inquiry committee, which will look into all aspects of the bombing,” he said. “Action will be taken against those whose negligence” caused the attack.
51 students were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
Meanwhile, Divers recovered 19 more bodies of Islamic seminary students from a dam in northwest Pakistan, bringing the death toll from Sunday's boat accident to 51, an official and local media reported on Tuesday.
At least 59 students, the majority of whom were in their teens, were aboard a boat when it capsized at Tanda Dam in the Kohat district of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday.
Divers recovered 19 more bodies of seminary students on Tuesday, while the search for a missing student continues, Kohat Police spokesman Fazal Naeem told reporters.
Some 59 students of a religious seminary were on a recreational visit, and took a boat ride, the head of the seminary, Shahid Anwar, said, adding that his son and a nephew are among the dead, local broadcaster Geo News reported.
Tanda Dam is a popular recreational spot in Kohat, attracting hundreds of visitors each day.
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Rescue operation continues after Pakistan blast
