Suicide attack kills 55 at Wagah border in Pakistan

At least 55 people, including children and security personnel, were killed and 200 injured in a powerful blast set off by a suicide bomber at Wagah in Pakistan on Sunday, minutes after the popular flag-lowering ceremony at the Indo-Pak border.

A woman comforts a man mourning for their relative killed in a bomb explosion at a local hospital in Lahore. (Source: AP/PTI)

The explosion hit near the checkpoint at the Wagah border crossing as hundreds of people were returning from a military parade on the outskirts of Lahore, provincial police chief Mushtaq Sukhera said.

A child injured in a bomb explosion receives initial treatment at a local hospital in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday. (Source: AP/PTI)

Both the Pakistani and the Indian military conduct daily parades and flag-flying ceremonies on their respective sides of the border. The events draw crowds of hundreds, a number that would rise into the thousands on a weekend like Sunday.

A Pakistani man wounded in a suicide bomb attack, reacts to the camera after received first aid in hospital in Wagah border, near Lahore November 2, 2014. (Reuters)

The death toll was likely to rise because over 100 people were wounded, with several in critical condition, Sukhera said.

A Pakistani mourns the death of a relative who was killed in a suicide bomb attack in Wagah border near Lahore November 2, 2014. (Source: Reuters)

Police are investigating the bombing, and had intelligence reports in advance that there could be such a blast in the city, he added.

Pakistani relatives gather beside the covered bodies of victims who were killed in suicide bomb attack in Wagah border. (Source: Reuters)

Dr. Khurram Shahzad at private Ghurki Trust hospital said that there were 10 women and seven children among the dead, and eight members of a single family. He said several of them had multiple critical wounds.

A Pakistani man comforted by others while mourning the death of a relative who was killed in suicide bomb attack in Wagah border near Lahore November 2, 2014. (Source: Reuters)

Live TV footage on private Pakistani news channels showed people drenched in blood and crying in pain as they were evacuated to hospitals. At the hospitals, relatives of the dead cried and beat their chests and heads. "My brothers, my two brothers," private Geo News TV showed a man wailing. "They both are dead."

A Pakistani woman cries while looking for the body of a relative who was killed in suicide bomb attack in Wagah border near Lahore November 2, 2014. (Source: Reuters)

All the officers said they did not know what the target could have been. Javed, the paramilitary official, said the bomber exploded hardly 500 meters away from the checkpoint manned by the paramilitary troops.

Pakistani relatives gather beside the covered bodies of victims who were killed in suicide bomb attack in Wagah border near Lahore November 2, 2014. (Source: Reuters)

Security has been increased in all major Pakistani cities to thwart possible attacks on minority Shiite Muslims observing Ashura, a 10-day ritual to commemorate the death of Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad.

Pakistani relatives mourn the death of a relative who was killed in suicide bomb attack in Wagah border near Lahore November 2, 2014. (Source: Reuters)

A woman mourns over a body of a relative who was killed in suicide bomb attack in Wagah border near Lahore. (Source: Reuters)