Terrorism cannot be ruled out in Dasu incident: Fawad Chaudhry

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Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry. — APP/File
Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry. — APP/File

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday said that "terrorism cannot be ruled out" in the Dasu bus accident which resulted in the death of 12 people, including nine Chinese nationals.

"Initial investigations into Dasu incident have now confirmed traces of explosives," said Chaudhry.

He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan is "personally supervising all developments in this regard" and that the government is closely coordinating with the Chinese embassy.

"We are committed to fight the menace of terrorism together," the information minister said.

In his weekly briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said that a "comprehensive" probe has been launched into the incident, adding that it is "also being investigated from the angle of terrorism".

Chaudhri said that "no possibility can be dismissed at this stage".

He added that close contact is being maintained with Chinese officials.

Bus plunges into ravine

Yesterday, a bus carrying Chinese workers in Khyber Pakhunkhwa's plunged into a ravine "after a mechanical failure resulting in leakage of gas that caused a blast", a statement from the Foreign Office said.

According to the statement, Chinese workers and accompanying Pakistani staff "were proceeding to their work place for an ongoing project".