Pakistan: 15 killed after gas cylinder explodes in bus

Islamabad: At least 15 people were killed on Tuesday when a blast, apparently triggered by a gas cylinder, ripped through a bus on a highway near here, police said.

The victims were burnt alive when the passenger bus caught fire due to which one of five cylinders exploded on the Islamabad Express Highway, Geo News reported.

According to reports, the incident happened near Korang Town when the bus was on its way from Faizabad to Kallar Syedan. There were 35 to 40 passengers in the bus at the time of the explosion.

Police said the passenger bus caught fire that resulted in cylinder explosion. However, a Geo News reporter on the scene said there were only four cylinders as there was no sign of the burst cylinder.

Local TV footage showed the charred carcass of the bus and ambulances shuttling wounded passengers to the hospital.

Meanwhile, the Express Tribune quoted its sources as saying that the blast could have been the result of a bomb on board the bus but there was no official confirmation on this.

A bomb disposal squad too reached the site and was trying to determine the cause of the blast.