The death toll from the attack on a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines area a day earlier rose to 88 on Tuesday after more bodies were recovered from the attack site, a spokesperson for the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) confirmed. On Friday, 59 people, mostly police officials, were martyred and over 150 were injured after an explosion ripped through a mosque in Peshawar’s Red Zone area. In a statement issued on Tuesday, LRH spokesperson Muhammad Asim said that all the deceased persons have been identified, while 57 of those injured were under treatment at the facility.

He added that a total of 157 injured people were brought to the hospital on Monday and most of them had been sent back home after medical aid. Meanwhile, Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Faizi said that a rescue operation at the blast site was under way for the past 18 hours. A police report stated that explosion occurred inside the main hall of a mosque which has a capacity of 300 to 350 menlocated in the Police Lines area.

The statement said that the blast caused the roof of the mosque to collapse and a rescue operation was underway by the Pakistan Army and Rescue 1122, for retrieval of casualties. Meanwhile the funeral prayers for police martyrs offered. Separately, a collective funeral prayer for police martyrs was offered in Peshawar’s Police Lines area late Monday night with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Chief Mauzzam Jah Ansari, army officers and officials of civil administration in attendance.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP