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26 dead as truck hits landmine in Pakistan
Seven others were injured when a truck carrying a marriage party hit a landmine in the restive Balochistan province.
A truck carrying a marriage party hit a landmine in Pakistan's restive southwestern province of Balochistan on Friday, killing 26 people and injuring seven, a provincial official said.
The blast happened near the town of Rakhni, around 300 kilometres east of the provincial capital Quetta, Balochistan government spokesman Raziq Bugti told the agency.
"The people in the truck were all travelling to attend a marriage when it hit at least one anti-tank mine and there was a very heavy blast. The vehicle was completely destroyed," Bugti said.
"We know that 26 people died and seven were injured. There were women and children in the vehicle and we are trying to get the details of how many."
The injured are being shifted to the nearby town of Barkhan and paramilitary troops have sealed off the site of the explosion, he added.
"The number of casualties and the damage suggest that there could have been more than one landmine but we have not confirmed that at this stage," Bugti said.
Balochistan has been in the grip of a sporadic insurgency blamed on tribal groups pressing for greater autonomy and a share in the income from the region's vast natural resources.
