A powerful bomb has exploded on the grounds of a government-run hospital in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, killing at least 30 people and wounding dozens.
The explosion occurred as mourners, mostly lawyers and journalists, gathered to accompany the body of Bilal Anwar Kasi, a prominent lawyer, who was shot and killed in the city earlier on Monday, an eyewitness said.
More than 50 mourners were entering the emergency department of the hospital, accompanying Kasi's body, when the bomb went off, Faridullah, a journalist who was at the scene, told Reuters.
Television footage from the site showed scenes of chaos, with panicked mourners fleeing through debris as smoke filled the corridors of the hospital's emergency ward.
Baluchistan's Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti said at least 10 people were killed and 30 wounded. Some media reported a much higher death toll.
Television news channel Geo reported that at least 40 people were killed and dozens wounded but it did not identify any sources for those figures.
Kasi was shot and killed while on his way to the main court complex in Quetta, senior police official Nadeem Shah told Reuters, but it was unclear who was behind the shooting.
Police cordoned off the hospital following the blast, restricting access to the area.
Targeted killings have become increasingly common in Quetta, the capital of a province that has seen rising violence linked to a separatist insurgency as well as sectarian tensions and rising crime.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, which struck at the gates of the building housing the emergency ward.
Anwalullah Kakar, the government spokesman in southwestern Baluchistan province, said an investigation is underway. Sarfraz Bugti, the provincial interior minister, denounced the attack as an “act of terrorism.”
A Pakistani news channel reported that one of its cameramen was also killed in the blast.
Reuters with Associated Press
