Pakistan to pay USD 2.58 million in compensation to families of 5 Chinese killed in suicide bombing

Islamabad: Pakistan has decided to pay USD 2.58 million to the families of five Chinese nationals killed in March when a suicide bomber targeted their vehicle in the troubled northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, according to a media report on Friday.

The five Chinese and their Pakistani driver were killed when a suicide attacker rammed his explosive-laden car into a vehicle in the Bisham area of the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province on March 26 when they were being driven to a construction site of Dasu Hydroelectric power station in Kohistan district of the same province.

The Economic Coordi­nation Committee (ECC) of Pakistan's Cabinet on Thursday decided to pay USD 2.58 million to the families of Chinese workers slain in the attack, the Dawn newspaper said.

The approval of compensation for five Chinese workers of China Gezhouba Group (contractor) was approved at the rate of USD 5,16,000 per head, as a goodwill gesture, the report said.

“The amount would be transferred immediately to the account of the Pakistani embassy in Beijing for onward payments to the families of the deceased Chinese nationals through appropriate channels,” the newspaper quoted a top finance ministry official as saying.

The compensation announcement came a day before the 13th joint cooperation committee meeting of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and ahead of the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to Beijing early next month to push for the second phase of project that has been going through a rough patch for almost five years.

Thousands of Chinese personnel are working in Pakistan on several projects being carried out under the aegis of the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Some have been attacked in recent years by militants who accuse them of exploiting mineral resources.