PESHAWAR

PESHAWAR: At least 19 people including two women were killed and dozens injured in a blast on a bus carrying Secretariat employees at Charsadda Road in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province before Friday prayers, Geo News reported.

According to the initial reports, a Civil Secretariat bus carrying around 70 employees and other passengers was on its way when an explosion occurred near Gulbaila at Charsadda Road.

More than 40 persons were injured while ten succumbed to their injuries initially that later rose to 17. Sources said that casualties are feared to rise.

Commissioner Peshawar Sahibzada Mohammad Anees confirmed the toll while talking to the media and said that the employees were returning to home after their duty when the unfortunate incident occurred.

The target was government employees, Sahibzada Anees told. The bus was heading to the town of Charsadda when the bomb went off.

Nasir Durrani, the police chief of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told reporters the remote-controlled bomb was planted at the back of the bus, which was reduced to a tangled mess of twisted metal by the force of the blast.

The bomb disposal squad confirmed that approximately 12-15 kilograms of explosives were placed at the rear of the bus with a time device.

An eyewitness said the blast was so powerful it threw victims' bodies clear of the vehicle and onto the roadside.

Rescue teams shifted the injured and bodies to Lady Reading Hospital and Charsadda District Headquarter Hospital.

Police reached the blast site and cordoned off the area.

A near-identical attack on a government staff bus in another Peshawar suburb in June last year killed 19 people.