Government workers killed in Pakistan bus blast

A blast on a bus carrying government employees in northwestern Pakistan has killed at least 17 people, police officials say.

More than 40 people were wounded in the blast in Peshawar on Friday, officials said.

"The bomb was planted inside the bus. At the moment, the death of 17 people have been confirmed, while 47 were wounded," Zahirul Islam, deputy commissioner of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa provincial capital, told Agence France-Presse.

Senior police official Rahim Shah confirmed that the bomb was planted inside the passenger bus, which was taking government staff home to the town of Charsadda after work.

Rescue teams rushed to the area, and the wounded were shifted to the Lady Reading and Charsadda District Headquarters hospitals, local media reported.

Television footage showed the back of the bus reduced to a tangle of twisted metal by the force of the explosion.

One witness who was not identified told Pakistan's Geo Television channel that he was driving his car behind the bus when the blast ripped open the back end. He said dozens of people sitting on the roof of the bus — a common sight in the country's overcrowded traffic — were thrown to the side.

Peshawar has seen many gun and bomb attacks in recent years carried out by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and other armed anti-state groups. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast.

On Sunday, a double suicide bombing at a church in the city killed at least 78 people.

Al Jazeera and wire services