Story highlights
NEW: Fatalities include eight women and a child, authorities said
NEW: A bomb was planted underneath the bus, a bomb squad official said
NEW: The incident occurred in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
NEW: The bus was taking government employees home from work
A bus explosion killed 19 people and injured dozens in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, authorities said.
Fatalities included eight women and a child. At least 25 people were wounded in the explosion near Peshawar, senior police official Shafi Ullah said.
The bus was taking government employees home after work when the blast hit, Ullah told CNN. He said that most of the fatalities were the government employees and that more than 50 employees were on the bus.
It was unclear whether passers-by were among the victims.
Shafqat Malik, the head of bomb disposal squad in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, told CNN the explosive was planted underneath the bus. Peshawar is the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Militants want to show their existence by such terrorist activities,” said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s information minister. “This was a terrorist act by militants to create a tyranny.”