Kabul: At least 32 people are feared to have been killed in a blast that took place at a Shia mosque in Afghanistan’s Kandahar town during Friday prayers. Local officials however said that the casualties may be higher as they are still clearing the rubble. They said that many more people could be trapped under the debris. Local police claimed that so far 20 injured persons have been brought out and have been rushed to hospital. The condition of five of them is reportedly very critical. However, other sources said that the number of injured are over 50.
A number of videos have gone viral in which people are being carried out from the site of the blast and being loaded in ambulances and other vehicles. Friday being the prayer day, the congregation at the mosque was quite large. Officials also said that among the deceased there are a number of kids who had come to attend the prayer session.
“Thirty-two bodies and 53 wounded people have been brought to our hospital so far,” a medic in the southern Afghanistan city’s central hospital, said.
The cause of the explosions was not immediately clear, but they came a week after a suicide attack on Shiite worshippers at a mosque in the northern city of Kunduz that was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.
An eyewitness said he heard three explosions. The first one was at the main door of the mosque, another at a southern area, and a third where worshippers wash before their prayers.
