Pakistain on Thursday said an initial investigation into a deadly bus crash the previous day in the country's northwest found ``traces of explosives`` at the site, raising the possibility the incident was a terror attack.
A bus carrying dozens of construction workers fell into a ravine Wednesday in the district of Kohistan
...a backwoods district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa distinguished by being even more rustic than is the norm among the local Pashtuns....
in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province after what authorities said was a gas leak in the vehicle that caused a kaboom. At least 13 people, including nine Chinese, were killed and at least 36 people were maimed.
Chinese Embassy in Islamabad promptly said the bus was attacked, without elaborating.
No group has so far grabbed credit for the deadly incident.
After the explosives find, Pak Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said ``terrorism cannot be ruled out.``
Prime Minister Imran Khan
...aka The Great Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality disorders...
was ``personally supervising all developments in this regard,`` Chaudhry said, adding that Islamabad was in contact with the Chinese Embassy. He provided no further details.
Chinese engineers and construction workers are helping Pakistain build a dam in Kohistan. The bus with the workers was en route to the construction project when the earth-shattering kaboom happened and the bus careened, plunging into a ravine.
Road accidents are common in Pakistain, where motorists largely disregard traffic rules and safety standards and drive on damaged roads, particularly in the mountainous terrain in the north.