Local residents and rescue workers gather at the site of a bus blast, in Kohistan district of northern Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Wednesday. Nine Chinese nationals and three Pakistani nationals were killed after their shuttle bus to China-invested Dasu hydropower project exploded and plunged into a ravine. Photo: CFP

 
If it is a terrorist attack, the perpetrators must be severely punished, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during a meeting with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, commenting on the Wednesday shuttle bus explosion in Pakistan which killed nine Chinese nationals and three Pakistanis.

In the explosion, nine Chinese and three Pakistani nationals were killed on their way to the China-invested Dasu hydropower project. Speculations soon arose on the possibility of a planned terrorist attack.

China was shocked by the serious casualties of Chinese personnel in the incident, said Wang Yi during the meeting with Qureshi in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, on Wednesday local time. China hopes that Pakistan can quickly identify the cause of the incident, spare no effort to treat the wounded, and deal with the aftermath in a timely manner to prevent similar incidents from happening again, Wang said.

If it is a terrorist attack, the perpetrators must be arrested immediately and severely punished, Wang said. 

Preliminary investigations revealed that it was an accident, and no background to a terrorist attack has yet been discovered, Qureshi said. He expressed sincere condolences to China on the serious casualties of Chinese personnel on behalf of the Pakistani government and people. 

Qureshi noted that China is Pakistan's most important friend and most reliable partner and that China's loss is Pakistan's loss. He promised that Pakistan will spare no effort in treating the wounded, thoroughly investigate the incident and share the progress of the investigation with China as soon as possible, and will do its best to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel in Pakistan.

Wang noted that lessons should be learned from the incident, and security measures for China-Pakistan cooperation projects should be further strengthened to ensure the safety and smooth operation of all projects.

Global Times