-Fawad Chaudhry says PM personally supervising all developments in this regard
-Stresses terrorism could not be ruled out from the incident
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Thursday that terrorism could not be ruled out from the Dasu bus tragedy in Kohistan, saying that initial investigations confirmed traces of explosives.
On Wednesday, 13 people, including nine Chinese nationals, had died when a coach carrying them to an under-construction tunnel site of the 4,300-megawatt Dasu hydropower project fell into a ravine in the Upper Kohistan area after an explosion.
“Initial investigations into Dassu incident have now confirmed traces of explosives, terrorism cannot be ruled out, PM is personally supervising all developments, in this regard Govt is in close coordination with Chinese embassy we are committed to fight menace of terrorism together,” he wrote on Twitter.
His statement came a day after Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told his Chinese counterpart that preliminary investigation into the incident revealed it was not a consequence of a terrorist attack, according to a statement on China’s foreign ministry website. Qureshi had met Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation-Council of Foreign Ministers in Dushanbe Wednesday.
In the meeting, the statement added, Yi stressed the immediate arrest of and severe punishment for perpetrators in case the incident was a terrorist attack. Qureshi, however, said the initial probe showed that the incident was not a terrorist attack.
“He Qureshi said preliminary investigation shows that it’s an accident and no background of terrorist attacks has been found,” the statement read. Qureshi said China was Pakistan’s “most important friend and most reliable partner, and China’s loss is Pakistan’s loss,” according to the statement.
“Pakistan will spare no effort to rescue and treat the wounded, thoroughly investigate the truth of the incident, lose no time in sharing the progress of the investigation with China, and do its utmost to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel in Pakistan,” the statement quoted him as saying.
