Three people were killed in a massive explosion outside Karachi airport in Pakistan on Sunday. At least eight people are reported to be injured. According to the police and the provincial government, a tanker exploded outside Pakistan’s largest airport. Meanwhile, provincial Home Minister Zia ul Hassan told local TV channel Geo that the attack was targeted at foreigners. A Home Ministry official said that the attack was carried out on Chinese citizens, one of whom was injured. There are thousands of Chinese workers in Pakistan, most of whom are working in Beijing’s billion-dollar Belt and Road project, which connects South and Central Asia to the Chinese capital Beijing.
Videos that emerged after the blast showed cars in flames and a thick plume of smoke rising from outside the airport. Deputy Inspector General East Azfar Mahesar told the media that it seemed like an oil tanker explosion. “We are ascertaining the nature and cause of the blast. It takes time,” he said. Police officers were among the injured, he said. The home minister and inspector general also visited the site but did not speak to the press. Rahat Hussain, who works in the civil aviation department, said the blast was so big that airport buildings shook.
Chinese citizens’ car was targeted.
This blast was carried out targeting Chinese citizens. The blast occurred when a car carrying foreign nationals was going towards the airport. The explosion occurred in the convoy of cars near the airport signal. The police vehicle escorting the foreign nationals was also damaged in this blast. There was chaos everywhere. People started running out of the burning vehicles. Even long after the blast, no one understood what had happened. There was only a scene of burning vehicles in front. The blast was so severe that the nearby vehicles also got caught in it. Along with the blast, the cars caught fire and in a short time, the cars were reduced to ashes. According to Pakistani officials, ten vehicles were damaged in the blast, out of which four vehicles were completely burnt to ashes.
The officers had no answer.
After the incident, the injured were immediately taken to the hospital. After the blast, Pakistani officials were not able to answer properly the question that who was targeted by the blast. Director General of Pakistan’s CID Asif Ejaz Sheikh told Pakistani media that it is difficult to say how the blast was carried out. Pakistani officials kept trying to say that after the attack, the operation of Karachi airport was going on smoothly. About an hour after the blast, Sindh Governor Kamran Kasuri came in front of the media, but he was not ready to accept that this attack was targeted at foreign citizens. Kasuri also said that there is no situation of tension due to the blasts.