Nowshera: At least five people were killed and two injured after a mortar shell exploded at Akbarpura in Nowshera district on Tuesday.
According to reports, a mortar shell in scrape went off in the area leaving five people dead and one injured.
Five deceased in the blast have been identified as Shafqat, Mukarram, Ali, Zahidullah and Hidayatullh, officials said.
District Police Officer (DPO) Najmul Hasnain and other police officers rushed to the spot and inspected the site of explosion.
Police has collected evidence from the site of the incident, DPO Najmul Hasnain said. The mortar shell was found near the riverside at Akburpura, which exploded when being sold at the scrape shop, the DPO added.
Akbarpura has been at around 13 miles distance from Peshawar and is part of Pabbi Tehsil of Nowshera District.
Presence and explosions of mortar shells time and again reported in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which have claimed scores of lives in the region.
District Police Officer (DPO) Najamal Hassan said that the explosion occurred in a market situated along the Kabul River. “Some people were collecting scrap material from the stones alongside the river. Some of the scrap included explosive material which detonated when they were weighing it.”
He said police werecollecting evidence and investigating the incident further. The injured people have been shifted to the hospital, he added.
Earlier this year, at least one man was injured in a blast on an imambargah in Lower Kurram’s Shoorki area near the Pak-Afghan border.
Police suspected explosive material had been planted at the mosque, Yaqoob Khan, a local police official said.–Agencies
