PESHAWAR, Pakistan - At least 40 were killed and 75 others injured, some of them seriously Friday in twin suicide blasts at Parachinar, the main town in the violence-plagued tribal Kurram region.
Riaz Mahsud, chief administrator of Kurram, said the bombers came on motorcycles.
He said around 400 people were busy in shopping for Iftari – food eaten at the end of the daily Ramadan fast - in narrow roadside markets when the suicide blasts took place.
"First one suicide bomber blew himself up in one corner of the commercial town and then a minute later the second bomber carried out attack in another corner of the markets and caused widespread destruction," the official said.
He said all the injured had been shifted to the main state-run Parachinar hospital, where an emergency was already declared and all staff members of the hospital called.
"We received 72 injured in which over a dozen are in critical condition. We may shift them to the Peshawar for better treatment," said Dr Gul Hussain.
Amjad Hussain, a local tribesman, said a large number of tribesmen were busy shopping when the blasts took place.
"First one blast took place in one corner of the bazaar and people started running to save their lives when another blast occurred,” he said.
“And then were human bodies and injured lying all over the road," he added.
He said local people themselves also took some of the injured to hospital.
Another tribesman, Gulfat Hussain said many victims died at the scene because of the lack of immediate medical care.
"Announcements were made from loud speakers in mosques appealing people to come to the hospital and donate blood for the injured people," he said.
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