Islamabad [Pakistan], April 25 : According to a preliminary police assessment, a short circuit in the ammunition depot was the main cause of the two explosions at a Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) police station in Swat on Monday, Geo News reported.
"No evidence of an attack from outside has been found," the police stated in the preliminary investigation report prepared after the blast rocked CTD police station in Swat's Kabal a day earlier.
More than 50 individuals were hurt by the explosion and are currently receiving medical attention, according to the police, who also verified that at least 17 people were dead, according to Geo News.
The police report stated, "There is a high possibility that the blast was caused by a short circuit as fire erupted in the armoury [a place where weapons are kept]."
DIG CTD (Counter Terrorism Department) while addressing the media, Khalid Sohail said that carelessness was to blame for the ammunition's fire. He disclosed that the incident occurred in the CTD's former office. He also ruled out the idea that the blasts might have been terrorist strikes or other types of suicide bombings.
"There was a store where we had a huge quantity of weapons, and until now we believe that there might have been some blast in it due to some carelessness," he said, according to Geo News.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Akhtar Hayat Khan said security officials were on "high alert" throughout the province after the explosion took place on Monday,
Meanwhile, the provincial health department imposed a state of emergency at hospitals in Swat.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the blast. He expressed grief over the lives lost and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured, reported Geo News.
He also directed authorities to submit a report regarding the incident, according to Radio Pakistan.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah condemned the blast and expressed sadness over the lives lost. "This scourge of terrorism will be uprooted soon," he asserted.
Two attacks on large police bases have been linked to the Pakist Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) since the start of the year.
In January, a suicide bomber detonated his vest in a mosque inside a police compound in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing more than 80 officers as the building collapsed and rained down rubble on worshippers, reported Al Jazeera.
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