Death toll of Sunday's blast in NW Pakistan rises to 44

ISLAMABAD, July 31: The death toll of a suicide blast that hit a political gathering in the Bajaur district of Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday rose to 44, the health minister of the province said on Monday.

Riaz Anwar told local media that the death toll increased after nine injured people succumbed to injuries overnight during treatment in different hospitals.

The minister said more than 200 people sustained injuries in the bomb blast and over 100 of them are still under treatment in hospitals.

Anwar feared that the death toll might further rise as at least 10 of the wounded are in critical condition, adding that all the critical patients had been airlifted to the provincial capital of Peshawar.

Police said the attack took place when a suicide bomber exploded his jacket at the political workers' convention of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) near the Shanday Mor area on the Munda Khar road of the district.