By DPA,
Islamabad : The toll in a bombing in Pakistan’s north-western city of Peshawar rose to 27 Saturday as rescue workers retrieved more bodies from the rubble, health officials and residents said.
An explosives-laden car detonated late Friday when people were shopping for Muslim festival of Eid ul Adha in Koocha Risaldar near city’s historic Qissa Khwani Bazaar.
Several nearby buildings caught fire following the high-intensity blast, making it difficult for the rescue workers to move the dead and injured from the narrow street.
Javed Khan, a medical officer at the city’s main Lady Reading hospital, said 23 people were confirmed dead last night while four more bodies were brought on Saturday morning.
“Most of the victims’ bodies were charred beyond recognition.”
Khan said 148 injured people were treated at the hospital, 48 of them in serious condition.
Police and residents were still searching for more bodies from the debris of a huge building brought down by fire Friday night.
“The whole area has been cordoned off. Entry of people and traffic has also been restricted,” one witness said.
No one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. Police officials suspect Taliban militants who have carried out dozens of similar attacks in Peshawar and other parts of the country.