by Raheela Nazir
ISLAMABAD, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from a deadly suicide attack that ripped through a mosque in Pakistan's northwest Peshawar city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province jumped to 95 as rescue and relief operation is still underway, hospital and police officials said on Tuesday.
The death toll rose after more bodies were recovered from the debris of the mosque building that collapsed due to the powerful impact of the explosion, Muhammad Ijaz Khan, capital city police officer of Peshawar, told Xinhua, adding that a search operation is being carried out to retrieve the remaining missing people.
He said at least 221 people were injured in the huge explosion, out of which more than 100 have been discharged after receiving necessary medical aid at Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital.
He said over 350 people were in the prayer hall when the blast took place at about 1:30 p.m. local time on Monday in the Police Lines area of Peshawar, killing and wounding hundreds of people, mostly policemen.
The Police Lines area is located in Peshawar's most sensitive area of cantonment where a large number of law enforcement agencies, including Frontier Corps, the counter-terrorism department of KP police and Elite Police Force, are situated.
Inspector General of the KP police Moazzam Jah Ansari told local media that about 10 to 12 kg of explosives were used in the bombing, adding that a joint investigation team has been constituted to investigate the attack.
According to local media reports, the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack after the blast. However, later, a statement circulating in the local social media allegedly from the TTP denied their involvement in the attack.
Bilal Faizi, spokesperson of the country's Rescue-1122, said rescue workers have pulled out over 20 bodies since the morning from the debris of the mosque.
"The operation is still underway. We are using heavy machinery to cut the roof of the collapsed building to recover survivors, if any. A fresh squad of rescue workers has been dispatched to the blast site to expedite the rescue activities," he told Xinhua.
The intensity of the blast was so high that it damaged the bases of the mosque building, causing the roof of the building crashing down on the worshippers, he said, adding that many casualties happened after the roof of the mosque caved in.
Confirming the casualties, the spokesperson of the Lady Reading Hospital Muhammad Asim said the process of victims' identification is being conducted to hand over the bodies to their families.
Mehmood Khan, a 48-year-old family member of a blast victim, was desperately searching for his brother who had been missing since Monday after the blast.
"I have no contact with my brother who went to offer an afternoon prayer to the mosque. I have searched for him in the hospital and also asked rescue officials for any news of him, but no one has any information about him ... some police officials told me to wait for the rescue operation to be completed," he told Xinhua.
"At this moment, I do not know what to do. My family is in deep grief and want him to be back soon and hopefully alive," Khan said while wiping tears from his eyes.
Meanwhile, a day of mourning has been announced across the KP province to condemn the deadliest attack of the year and share the grief of the victim's families.
Following the incident, security has been beefed up in all the major cities of the country. In the federal capital Islamabad, the police have issued a high alert and increased the security at all entry and exit points to the city. ■