45 killed in Pakistan bomb blast

Not less 45 people were killed on Monday when an explosion was discharged through a Pakistani hospital, officials said.

According to reports, the explosion in the Balochistan provincial capital Quetta came as up to 200 people gathered at the Civil Hospital after the fatal shooting of a senior local lawyer, AFP reporters on the scene said.

A video footage showed bodies strewn on the ground, some still smoking, among pools of blood and shattered glass as shocked survivors cried and comforted one another.

An AFP journalist said he was approximately 20 metres (65 feet) away when the explosion occurred.

“There were huge black clouds and dirt,” he said.

“I ran back to the place and saw dead bodies scattered everywhere and many injured people crying. There were pools and pools of blood around and pieces of human bodies and flesh.”

Nurses and lawyers wept as medics from inside the hospital rushed out to help dozens of injured, he said.

“People were beating their heads, crying and mourning. They were in shock and grief.”

Pervez Masi, who was injured by pieces of flying glass, said the blast was so powerful that “we didn’t know what had happened”.

“So many friends were martyred,” he said. “Whoever is doing this is not human, he is beast and has no humanity.”

Police and officials have said the blast appeared to be a suicide attack but added they are still investigating.

“There are at least 45 confirmed dead and around 50 injured,” said Rehmat Saleh Baloch, health minister for Balochistan, updating earlier figures.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either the blast or the shooting of the lawyer. But militant groups in the province routinely target security forces and government installations.

Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has major oil and gas resources but is afflicted by Islamist militancy, sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims and a separatist insurgency.