Early information said that the blast took place after a pick-up truck collided with a passenger vehicle, causing gas cylinders ripped through a minibus to explode.

17 people were killed in northwest Pakistan, when a minibus planted with about 10 kilograms of explosives detonated, police told AFP news agency.

Early information said that the blast took place after a pick-up truck collided with a passenger vehicle, causing gas cylinders ripped through a minibus to explode.
"The report of the bomb disposal squad shows that explosive materials fitted with a timer were placed near the gas cylinders which caused the explosion," district police chief Abdul Rashid told AFP from the scene at Jawarza, near the restive northwestern town of Hangu .

"The death toll has risen to 17 and five bodies still remain unidentified, as they have have been burnt very badly," he added.
The mangled and burned-out wreckage of the minibus and another passenger vehicle were left at the scene.

Rashid said most of the passengers in the minibus had been killed, along with two people travelling in a pick-up truck nearby when the blast occurred.

Senior police official Masood Khan Afridi confirmed that the blast was caused by high-intensity explosives.
"It was a terrorist attack," he said. "We are looking for the owner of the vehicle, as the driver was killed in the blast," he added.