Death toll climbs in suicide attack in Quetta, Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - Reuters

At least 28 people were killed and 35 wounded in a suicide attack near a polling station in the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, officials said, as millions voted in a nationwide election Wednesday.

"(The bomber) was trying to enter the polling station. When police tried to stop him he blew himself up," a local administration official in Quetta, Hashim Ghilzai, told AFP.

The incident and toll were confirmed by a second senior local official.

Television images showed a charred police vehicle, cordoned off by security officials.

Samaa TV, which put the death toll at 20, said a "suicide attacker" was responsible for the attack. Rival Geo TV said 22 people had been killed.