Peshawar hotel blast toll soars to 15

PESHAWAR: The death toll of blast occurred in a five-star hotel in Peshawar has reached to 15 as three more bodies have been recovered from the rubbles on Wednesday morning.Three foreigners were also among the blast victims. Militants blew up their explosives-laden vehicle after storming into the compound of a five-star hotel situated on the Khyber Road here Tuesday night.The attackers first opened fire at the security personnel guarding the main entrance of the hotel to clear their vehicle’s entry into the building. They took the vehicle to the parking lot of the hotel close to the mosque and blew it up killing 13 people including three foreigners and wounding 75 others, several of them foreigners. A portion of the hotel was razed to the ground while around 50 vehicles in the parking lot were damaged.The number of casualties could rise as some of the persons were reported in a critical state.A Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) official said that at least 500 kilograms of explosives were used in the attack, saying probably a vehicle was used for the attack. A committee headed by CCPO Peshawar has been formed to probe the incident and security has been tightened at the blast site.