JAKARTA - At least 10 people were killed, including at least six Chinese nationals and two Pakistani soldiers, in an explosion that targeted a bus in a remote area of northern Pakistan on Wednesday, July 14 local time,
It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion, whether the explosives were installed on the road or placed on the bus. Sources said the number of victims was likely to rise.
Khyber-Paktunkhwa's top police official Inspector General Moazzam Jah Ansari, the province where the incident occurred, confirmed the deaths of six Chinese nationals, two soldiers and two local residents.
"The bus fell into a deep ravine after the explosion and caused heavy losses. A Chinese engineer and one soldier are missing. A rescue operation was launched and all government facilities have been deployed to rescue the injured by air ambulance," a senior government official said on condition of anonymity. Reuters was quoted as saying Wednesday, July 14.
Ansari told Reuters that police were investigating. "It looks like sabotage," said Ansari as he departed by helicopter to the location.
At least three other officials confirmed that an explosion hit the bus. Meanwhile, another senior police official said the toll had risen to 13 dead, including nine Chinese nationals and two soldiers.
A senior Hazara region administration official said the bus was carrying more than 30 Chinese engineers to the Dasu dam site in Upper Kohistan. The Dasu hydroelectric project is part of the China - Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The project cost US$65 billion of investment under the Beijing Belt and Road Initiative (BOR), which aims to connect western China to the southern Pakistani sea port of Gwadar.
To note, Chinese engineers and Pakistani construction workers have been working on the Dasu hydroelectric project and several others for several years in the area where the explosion occurred.
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