KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – A powerful explosion hit a market in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province on Friday, resulting in deaths and multiple injuries, according to Emergency Hospital.
The explosion occurred in Grishk city, with at least 17 injured people transferred to the NGO’s Surgical Centre in Lashkar Gah. Five of the injured are in critical condition, the hospital said.
No information has been provided regarding the exact number of deaths.
“Our ambulances have been rotating non-stop between our First Aid Posts in Grishk and the hospital in Lashkar Gah,” said Dejan Panic, Emergency’s Country Director in Afghanistan. “The situation is serious: the patients we have received have various wounds and traumas. Our team is caring for five critically injured individuals.”
The hospital also expressed concern over the scale of the incident, noting it has not dealt with such a violent mass casualty event in its Lashkar Gah center for years.
“The explosion in the Grishk market has caused deaths and many injuries, which we are treating in our hospital,” Panic added. “At the same time, we are receiving patients from other areas of Helmand with trauma-related issues. The hospital is working to manage all the arrivals.”
No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and the Taliban authorities have yet to comment.
This is the first explosion reported in Afghanistan in the solar year, 1404.
