China urges Pakistan to ‘severely punish’ bus attackers after blast kills 13, including nine Chinese nationals

While Pakistani officials said the nature of the blast was under investigation, the Chinese embassy in Islamabad said its nationals had come under ‘attack’

The bus was on its way to the Dasu hydropower project, part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor under construction in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province

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Rescuers inspect the scene of a blast on Wednesday that hit a bus carrying Chinese nationals to the site of Dasu dam in Pakistan. Photo: Rescue 1122 handout via EPA

Published: 2:31pm, 14 Jul 2021Updated: 9:22pm, 14 Jul 2021

China on Wednesday called for the swift arrest of the attackers behind a bus blast in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province which killed 13 people including nine Chinese nationals.

Condemning the attack, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian urged Pakistan to “severely punish” the perpetrators “and earnestly protect the safety of Chinese nationals, organisations and projects” in the country.

The bus was carrying Chinese engineers, surveyors and mechanical staff to a dam construction site in Dasu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where a hydroelectric project is under construction.

A map showing the location of the Dasu dam construction site. Image: SCMP

“The blast sparked a fire in the engine plunging the vehicle into a ravine," a local government official said, adding that as many as 28 other Chinese nationals had been injured. Arif Javed, a deputy district commissioner, said at least 36 people were hurt.

China described it as a “bombing” and an “attack”, although Pakistan’s foreign ministry blamed a mechanical failure for a “leakage of gas that caused a blast”.