An explosion in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Wednesday caused a bus to tumble into a ravine, resulting in the death of 12 people, including nine Chinese nationals, following which the Chinese Foreign Ministry called for an investigation into the incident.
The New York Times reported that several Chinese passengers on the bus were engineers, surveyors, and mechanical staff working at the China-funded hydroelectric project in Dasu in the Upper Kohistan district. Apart from the nine Chinese nationals, two Pakistani paramilitary soldiers and one Pakistani labourer also died, and 41 other passengers were wounded. Although the exact cause of the incident remains unclear, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry stated that the bus fell into the ravine “after a mechanical failure resulting in leakage of gas that caused a blast.” However, it added that the authorities are continuing to investigate the incident to rule out other theories.
Meanwhile, the Chinese embassy and foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian initially said that the incident was caused due to an “attack.” In a statement, Zhao expressed his “shock and condemnation over the bombing” and urged Pakistani authorities to “severely punish” the perpetrators and “earnestly protect” Chinese citizens and projects in the country. Likewise, the Chinese embassy stated, “Recently, our workers at a business on a certain project in Pakistan were attacked and have suffered deaths and injuries…We have notified Chinese citizens in Pakistan to avoid venturing outside unless required by work or business and pay special care to their safety.” However, eventually, both statements were modified to add that the incident could have been an accident.
The hydroelectric project in Dasu, which is on the Indus River, is a part of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative in Pakistan and is run jointly by Chinese-state owned China Gezhouba Group and China Gansu International Corporation for Economic and Technical Cooperation. The construction for the project commenced in 2017 and was scheduled to be completed in five years.
Over the years, Pakistan and China have grown increasingly closer due to their common rivalry with India and the Belt and Road Initiative, of which the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor forms a critical part. Consequently, China has invested billions of dollars into infrastructure and development projects in Pakistan. However, their relationship has been criticised by several Western critics who believe that Pakistan has been forced into a debt trap by China’s aggressive expansion plans. In addition, their friendship also faces opposition from locals in Pakistan, who believe that their resources are being exploited.
According to residents at the site of Chinese projects, locals are mired in a cycle of poverty, as the employment opportunities at these facilities are awarded to Chinese nationals. This has resulted in several protests and attacks against the Chinese projects. For instance, in 2019, a luxury hotel near a China-funded project in Balochistan was attacked by gunmen, resulting in the death of eight people.
The latest incident, too, has sparked fears among Chinese nationals and authorities, who have often raised concern about the safety of their representatives in Pakistan.