Pakistan mosque blast death toll rises to 92

The death toll from a suspected suicide bomb that ripped through a mosque in northwestern Pakistan Monday has risen to at least 92, marking one of the deadliest attacks in the country in years as it faces what one analyst described as “a national security crisis.”

Peshawar deputy commissioner Shafiullah Khan on Tuesday confirmed the fatalities and said more than 80 victims were still being treated in hospital following the blast at the mosque in a police compound in the city, reports CNN.

Nasarullah Khan, a police official who survived the explosion, said he remembered seeing “a huge burst of flames” before becoming surrounded by a plume of black dust.

Khan said his foot broke in the blast and he was stuck in the rubble for three hours.

“The ceiling fell in… the space in between the ceiling and wall is where I managed to survive,” he said.

Meanwhile, hope was fading in the search for survivors as rescue workers sifted through the rubble of the mosque that was all but destroyed Monday, when worshipers – mainly law enforcement officials – had gathered for evening prayers.

Photos and video show walls of the mosque reduced to fragments, with glass windows and paneling destroyed in the powerful blast.

Agencies