Horrific moment Taliban bomb blast rips through crowd of mourners killing 60 at Pakistan hospital after ‘they were lured into trap by terror group’
More than 70 people killed and another 120 injured in the blast at a hospital in Quetta
THE horrific moment a suicide bomb exploded, killing more than 70 people outside a Pakistani hospital, has been captured on film.
More than 150 people had gone to the emergency department of the Civil Hospital in the city of Quetta after prominent lawyer Bilal Anwar Kasi, had been shot by two assassins earlier that day.
But the peaceful scene is ripped to shreds when the huge bomb explodes, leaving survivors screaming with terror.
More than 70 people were killed with another 120 injured with the Pakistani Taliban faction Jamaat-ur-Ahrar now claiming responsibility for the attack.
Police said that unknown men then opened fire on the crowd after the blast.
The large number of people targeted out the front of the hospital included journalists and lawyers, with the group paying their respects to lawyer Mr Kasi, who had been the president of the Balochistan Bar Association.
Mr Kasi had been shot dead on Monday morning while on his way to a Quetta courtroom.
Balochistan Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti said: "The blast occurred after a number of lawyers and some journalists had gathered at the hospital following the death of the president of the Balochistan Bar Association in a separate shooting incident early this morning."
The Pakistani Taliban faction Jamaat-ur-Ahrar on Monday claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a hospital in southwestern Pakistan that killed at least 70 people.
"The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan Jamaat-ur-Ahrar takes responsibility for this attack, and pledges to continue carrying out such attacks. We will release a video report on this soon," spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said in an email, Reuters reported.
The Islamist movement is the same that carried out the Easter Day bombing the eastern city of Lahore in March that killed 72 people, many of them children, in a crowded park.
A spokesperson for the Balochistan government said the suicide bombing had appeared to be a pre-planned attack" to target the mourners.
The bombing attack has since been slammed with Balochistan government spokesman Anwarul Haq saying: "Our first priority remains to provide immediate medical care to the injured."
Many of the dead had been wearing black suits and ties with at least two of those killed cameramen.
A state of emergency has since been declared across hospitals in the regions.
The remains of the bomber have been found at the scene with images of the bombing revealing the horror of the scene.
Dozens of bodies can be seen placed along the road while others nursing bloody injuries are rushed away for treatment.
A Pakistani man who survived the bombing said there were "bodies everywhere".
He said he and his father were both pushed to the ground by the force of the explosion.
Leaders, including President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif have strongly condemned the attack - one of the rising number of targeted killings in the area.
Prime Minister Sharif said: "No one will be allowed to disturb the peace in the province that has been restored due to countless sacrifices of security forces, police and the people of Baluchistan.
In a statement, he expressed his "deep grief and anguish over the loss of previous human lives".
Provincial Interior Minister Safraz Bugti told local media the attack was "an act of terrorism".
He said: "This was a security lapse and I am having this personally investigated."
The attack comes after the deadly bombing in March this year which saw 75 people killed in an explosion in Lahore.