After militants belonging to Tehreek e Taliban Pakistan killed several soldiers of the Pakistani Army including a captain in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on Wednesday (14 July), six Chinese nationals, and a Pakistani soldier were among the eight people killed in an explosion in a bus in this remote region of northern Pakistan.
Several others sustained injuries in the blast that specifically targeted the bus carrying more than 30 Chinese engineers to the site of the Dasu dam in Upper Kohistan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“The bus plunged into a deep ravine after the blast and caused heavy losses. One Chinese engineer and one soldier are missing. The rescue operation is launched and the entire government machinery has been mobilised to rescue the injured by air ambulance,” a senior government official was quoted by news agency Reuters as saying.
The Dasu hydroelectric project is part of the $65 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), under the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative to rebuild the silkroad.
The purpose of CPEC is also aimed at connecting western China to the Gwadar sea port in the Arabian sea in southern Pakistan.
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