By IRNA,
Islamabad : A blast in a passenger bus killed at least 15 persons Tuesday in Rawalpindi near Pakistani capital Islamabad, local media reported.
A police officer ruled out possibility of terrorism but experts of bomb disposal said that explosives may have caused the blast as none of the four gas cylinder was exploded.
They said that someone was carrying the explosives for firework in the coming week for a religious festival.
Police had earlier said gas cylinder may have caused the explosion. A police officer said that they are investigating as to who was carrying explosives.
The bus with 30 people onboard caught fire after the blast and 10 passengers died of burn wounds at the scene. Five later died in hospitals, health officials said. Around 10 passengers were shifted to the Islamabad main hospital and a burn center in Rawalpindi.
Police said that all those died could not be identified as they were badly burnt and they would be identified through DNA tests.
The bus was heading to the town Kalar Saydean in Punjab from the garrison city of Rawalpindi, police said.
The bus was destroyed in the blast. Traffic on the main highway between Rawalpindi and the eastern city of Lahore was suspended after the blast.
TV footage showed the burnt body of the bus and the rescue teams were collecting bodies of those dead.