Unidentified attackers torched a bus in Balochistan province of southwest Pakistan overnight, killing 13 people, including four children and two women besides injuring several others, an official said today.
The bus, which was going from Peshawar in the northwest to Balochistan capital Quetta, was attacked on the National Highway in Sibi area late last night, Assistant Commissioner Shahzaib Mandokhail told the media.
Thirteen people were killed and many others wounded, he said.
Other police officials said the among those who were killed three men belonged to the minority Hindu community and were identified as Kapil, Varsheen and Pujamal.
Four armed men riding motorcycle attacked the bus when the driver parked it at a roadside hotel near Sibi.
Two of the attackers entered the bus and sprinkled petrol on passengers before setting the vehicle ablaze, officials of the Levies militia said.
The dead and injured were taken to a hospital in Sibi, where officials described the condition of some of the injured as very serious.
"The driver and the conductor of the bus fled from the scene and we are searching for them. The frontier corps and police have cordoned off the area and are searching for the suspected criminals who set the coach on fire," Deputy Commissioner of Police in Sibi, Naseer Ahmed Nasir said.
Police suspect that the attack may be ethnic as dozens of non-locals were on board of the bus.
Baluch separatists have been carrying out attacks on government and security installations in the province for the last few years and have in the past targetted settlers from other provinces who reside in different parts of Baluchistan.
Nasir said that those killed in the fire included five persons of one family including three children and their grandparents.
"Since one door was burnt immediately there was no escape route for the passengers inside the bus. Most of the male passengers had got down to say prayers or have food," the deputy commissioner said.