A bus carrying Chinese workers along with other people got into an accident after an explosion on July 14th.
Thirteen people, including nine Chinese nationals, two personnel of the Frontier Constabulary (FC) and two locals, were killed and 28 others sustained injuries when a coach carrying them to an under-construction tunnel site of the 4,300-megawatt Dasu hydropower project fell into a ravine in the Upper Kohistan area after an explosion on Wednesday.
The bus along with other two vehicles was on its way to Dasu dam site, after picking up Chinese laborers in the morning from Barseen Camp- district headquarters of Upper Kohistan via the Karakoram Highway when the blast occurred.
Chinese investigators accompanied by Pakstani counterparts, on Saturday visited the site of an explosion in which 13 people including nine chinese workers were killed.
Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad has disclosed that a 15-member team of Chinese investigators has joined the ongoing investigations into the Dasu bus explosion.
The minister said that the investigations are in full swing and the culprits may be brought to task soon. The Chinese investigators arrived on Friday and visited the site of the explosion with other officials.
The incident is hinted to be an attempt to sabotage Pakistan- China’s relationship and the projects under Pak China Economic Corridor (CPEC) as the incident took place just two days prior to the CPEC joint Coordination Committee, which was delayed following the incident.
Mr Ahmed said a similar attempt to damage Pakistan-China ties had been foiled in April, referring to the blast at Quetta’s Serena Hotel where the Chinese ambassador had arrived. “They were successful in their scheme in Dasu, but this success is temporary, because our relations with China are higher than the Himalayas,” he remarked.
Mr Ahmed said the prime minister had instructed Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to visit China while the interior ministry had directed security agencies to make foolproof arrangements for the protection of Chinese nationals in Pakistan.
Soon after the incident, army helicopters airlifted the bodies and the injured, including 33 Chinese nationals, to the Combined Military Hospitals in Abbottabad and Gilgit.
Chinese Premier Li urged his Pakistani counterpart to hold accountable the culprits for what he described as a “terrorist attack.
The killed Chinese workers were employed at Dasu Hydro project, a project under CPEC (China Pakistan Economic corridor, it is a $65 billion dollar plan in order to link western China to the southern Pakistani port of Gwadar.
