PESHAWAR: In a statement on Tuesday, the chief of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police, Akhtar Hayat Gandapur, addressed the twin blasts at a counter-terrorism department’s police station in Swat Valley.
Contrary to earlier reports, Gandapur clarified the explosions were not caused by a terrorist group or a suicide attack.
According to Gandapur, the blasts were caused by a fire that erupted in the ammunition depot of the police station last night.
The explosive weapons and ammunition stored in the depot caught fire, resulting in two huge explosions that rocked Kabal tehsil. The explosions occurred in an interval of 12 minutes.
Gandapur confirmed that 15 people lost their lives in the incident, including nine policemen, six civilians, and five prisoners. The casualties were mainly caused by the wreckage of the building.
A day earlier, the regional head of the counter-terrorism department Sohail Khalid had told reporters that the explosions did not appear to be a suicide attack or other act of terrorism.
“There was a store where we had a huge quantity of weapons, and until now we believe that there might have some blast in it due to some carelessness” he had said, adding: “We are keeping all our options open.”
A hospital administration said it received several wounded people for treatment, some of them in critical condition.
Gandapur extended his condolences to the victims’ families and prayed for the departed souls. The police department is currently investigating the cause of the fire and will release further updates in due course.
