By Xinhua
Islamabad : At least eight people were killed and about 40 injured early Thursday when a bus carrying air force officials was hit by a suicide attacker on a road in eastern Pakistani province of Punjab, said the Pakistani interior ministry.
The bus was carrying trainee flying officers when the suicide bomber in the Sargodha district of central Punjab attacked it, said Brigadier Javed Cheema, the ministry spokesman.
“Eight air force officials died in the terrorist attack,” Cheema said.
“It was a suicide attack and the target was the bus which was carrying the air force officials,” chief military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said.
Media reports said that the bus caught fire after being hit by a man on a bomb-rigged motorcycle.
A large number of ambulances gathered to rush the wounded to the hospitals. All the area hospitals have declared emergency.
Sargodha is home to the largest air force base in Pakistan.
The area has been cordoned off with police and army not allowing journalists through the security cordon.