ISLAMABAD, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- The death toll of a deadly suicide blast at a shrine in Sehwan town of Pakistan's south Sindh Province has risen to 72, local police said.
Inspector General of Sindh police A.D. Khawaja said that over 200 people were also injured in the explosion.
Faisal Edhi, head of rescue team which shifted the injured to hospitals, said the killed included 43 men, 20 children and nine women.
Rasool Bux, Senior House Officer (SHO) Police, said that the suicide bomber entered the Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine from crowded golden gate and blew himself up in a group of people performing Dhamal (Sufi dance) inside a compound in Sehwan, a small town located some 284 km away from the provincial capital of Karachi.
He said there were 500 to 800 people inside the shrine as Thursday evening is considered as the most sacred time to pray in the shrine and a large number of people from across the country were there to pay homage to the late saint and perform Dhamal.
Talking to local media, an injured eyewitness said that he saw the operator of the CCTV room running out of his office and after a few moments the explosion happened. "May be the CCTV operator saw the bomber in the camera and ran away for his life," he added.
Another eyewitness said they were praying inside the shrine when a loud explosion was heard and there were heaps of bodies and injured people everywhere.
The injured people have been shifted to Sehwan hospital from where the critically wounded victims were sent to hospitals in Karachi and neighboring Nawabshah district via army planes and helicopters.
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