A blast at a mosque inside a police headquarters in Pakistan on Monday killed at least 17 worshippers and wounded 80 more, hospital officials said.
The incident happened during afternoon prayers in the northwestern city of Peshawar near the border with Afghanistan.
Part of the mosque roof and wall had collapsed and bloodied survivors limped from the wreckage, as dead bodies were ferried away in ambulances, an AFP reporter saw.
"It's an emergency situation," Muhammad Asim Khan, a spokesman for the main hospital in Peshawar, told AFP.
He said the facility had so far received 17 patients dead-on-arrival while several of the 80 injured were in critical condition.
Many worshippers were still trapped inside, police said, and heavy machinery and fire brigades were combing the ruins for survivors in a frantic rescue operation.
Officers said the blast emanated from the second row of worshippers, with bomb disposal teams probing the possibility of a suicide attack.
Security personnel stand guard outside the police headquarters after a blast in Peshawar on January 30, 2023. (AFP)
