ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The explosion that killed nine Chinese workers and four others near a hydroelectric project in Pakistan on Wednesday was a terrorist attack, not an accident as officials in Pakistan initially suggested, according to a statement by the Chinese government and a top Pakistan official close to the investigation. A vehicle driven by a suicide attacker and laden with explosives rammed a convoy of Chinese workers headed to the project site in Dasu, a remote town north of the capital, Islamabad, the official said, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a security matter. The explosion badly damaged two buses carrying workers from the China Gezhouba Group Co., a construction company based in Wuhan. One of the buses veered off the unpaved road and down a steep slope where it came to rest on the bank of the churning Indus River. Chinese workers and diplomats have been targeted in previous attacks in the country, though Wednesday’s was the deadliest so far.

Source: New York Times July 16, 2021 14:36 UTC