Islamabad, April 25, (dpa/GNA) – Twin blasts at a counterterrorism facility in north-western Pakistan were caused by an electric short-circuit, police said on Tuesday, as the death toll surged to 17 from the incident that officials initially said was a suicide bombing.
Rescuers retrieved five more bodies from the rubble of the building that was destroyed by the blasts late on Monday night, adding to the overnight deal toll of 12, local police chief Shafi Ullah Gandapur said.
At least 12 officers from the anti-terror police, and five imprisoned terrorism suspects were among the dead, another police official Khalid Suhail said.
The accident occurred in the district of Swat, long controlled by the Pakistan Taliban, a distinct group from their Afghan counterparts.
Gandapur said at least two devices from the police’s own ammunition went off minutes apart from each other when an electric short-circuit occurred in the basement of the building.
At least 57 officers were being treated in local hospitals, where a state of emergency had been declared, Suhail told dpa.
At least 10 injured people were in a critical condition, local health official Mehmoud Aslam said, adding that the death toll might go up further.
GNA