An explosion took place during a Chehlum procession in the Khanpur area of Rahim Yar Khan on Sunday. Rescue team said that at least 18 people were killed in the explosion. The injured are around a dozen and have been shifted to local Zayed Bin Sultan hospital.
Police said that there were around 150 people gathered at the procession outside Darbar Hussain in Khanpur town some 250km south of Multan. At least 3-4 people are critically injured. Shia leader Basharat Qureshi in Multan said that it was a bomb blast but Khanpur administration was trying to conceal its negligence.
RPO Bahawalpur Syed Abid Qadri, however, denied media reports and said that the incident took place when a transformer exploded. "It was not an incident of terrorism," he told the reporters.