An explosion occurred during a Chehlum procession in the Khanpur area of Rahim Yar Khan on Sunday in which eighteen people were killed and thirty other were injured, according to media reports. The injured have been shifted to a nearby hospital.
“The death toll has risen to 18, another 30 people have been injured,” Mohammad Mushtaq, a senior government official, told a private TV channel.
The injured have been taken to local hospitals, he added.
“We are trying to calm the situation,” Mushtaq said.
“We have evidences which shows that it was a bomb blast. We are also checking whether a suicide bomber was involved or not.”
After inspecting the site, District Police Officer Sohail Zafar remarked that it can be speculated it was a bomb blast.
“We are investigating about the nature of the blast but it is yet not clear,” Zafar said, adding that police experts had collected some evidence to show it could be a bomb.
“We are examining those evidences,” he said.
However, RPO Bahawalpur Syed Abid Qadri denied such reports, saying that the incident took place when a transformer exploded.
Qadri told a private TV channel that the alam (flag) that was being held at the procession was very long and it got stuck in power lines causing the transformer to explode.
The Chehlum of Hazrat Imam Hussain is being observed all over the country today. There were around 150 people gathered at the procession outside Darbar Hussain.
18 killed, 30 hurt in Rahim Yar Khan Chehlum procession
