ISLAMABAD: At least 12 people, including nine China nationals and two paramilitary soldiers, were killed after a blast sent a bus plunging into a ravine in a remote region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday.
While officials said the nature of the blast was under investigation, the Chinese embassy in Islamabad said its nationals had come under “attack”.
The bus was carrying Chinese engineers, surveyors and mechanical staff to the Dasu dam construction site in Upper Kohistan district, a government official who did not want to be named told AFP.
“The bus plunged into a deep ravine after the blast and caused heavy losses. The rescue operation is launched and the entire government machinery has been mobilised to rescue the injured by air ambulance,” another government official told Reuters, also requesting anonymity.
He said a further 28 Chinese nationals were injured.
KP Inspector General Moazzam Jah Ansari said two soldiers and two civilians were also among the dead. Several people were injured.
Ansari told Reuters that police were investigating. “[It] looks like sabotage,” Ansari said as he left on a helicopter for the site.
“Police and the bomb disposal squad are at the site […] as soon as the report from the investigation comes, we will be able to tell you the factual position,” Arif Khan Yousufzai, a local official, told reporters outside the hospital.
A senior administrative officer of the Hazara division told Reuters the bus was carrying more than 30 Chinese engineers to the site of the Dasu Dam in Upper Kohistan district.
The Dasu Hydropower Project is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a $65 billion investment plan under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative that is aimed at connecting western China to the Gwadar port in Balochistan.
Engineers and construction workers from China and Pakistan have been working on the project and several others for several years in the region where the blast took place.
Beijing has condemned the blast and asked Islamabad to thoroughly investigate the incident, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the ministry, in a news briefing, said China had asked Pakistan to protect the safety of its personnel, institutions and projects.
The dead and injured, including the Chinese engineers, were brought to the Regional Health Centre in Dasu, about 10 kilometres (6 miles) from the site of the blast.
The security of Chinese workers has long been an issue of concern in Pakistan. Large numbers of them are based in the country to supervise and build infrastructure projects.
In a statement, the Chinese embassy said that “a certain project of a Chinese firm in Pakistan suffered an attack, which caused the deaths of Chinese nationals”. It also urged Chinese firms to strengthen their security procedures.
In April, the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide blast at Zaver Pearl Continental hosting the Chinese ambassador, who was unhurt, in Quetta.
The Afghanistan-based group has recently claimed a string of attacks not only in tribal regions along the Afghanistan border but also in the cities, including Islamabad.
There have been signs in recent months that the TTP has been regrouping along the Afghan border, claiming frequent clashes with security officials.
Beijing has poured billions of dollars into Pakistan in recent years to boost the infrastructure. But Chinese-funded projects have sparked resentment, particularly among nationalist groups, who say locals see little benefit, with most jobs going to outsiders.
In 2019, gunmen stormed the Pearl Continental Hotel — which overlooks the deep-water seaport in Gwadar that gives China strategic access to the Arabian Sea — killing at least eight people.
And last June, militants targeted the Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi, which is partly owned by Chinese companies.
Reuters contributed to this report
