Hussain,
a photographer for News Network International, a Pakistani independent news
agency, died in a hospital from injuries he sustained in a bomb blast that occurred
10 minutes after an initial explosion near a billiards hall in Quetta, capital
of Baluchistan province, according to NNI editor Tariq Nadeem and local news reports.
The
twin blasts killed dozens, including police, emergency workers, and journalists
who rushed to the scene of the first explosion, according to news reports. The
billiards hall is in a predominantly Shia area of Quetta. The bombings were
part of a series of bomb attacks reported across Pakistan that day, news
reports said.
At
least two other journalists were killed covering the explosion. Imran Shaikh, a
senior cameraman for Samaa TV, was killed in the blast, and Saif ur Rehman, a
reporter for the outlet, died a few hours later at a local hospital from
injuries he sustained in the explosion, news reports said.
The
Associated Press reported that Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a sectarian militant group,
claimed responsibility for the attack. Bakar Saddiq, a spokesman for the group,
said a suicide bomber carried out the first attack, while the second was a car
bomb that had been detonated remotely, the AP said.
Hussain
had worked with News Network International for four years, Nadeem told CPJ.
Hussain’s brother, Mirza Mohammad Hussain, a photographer for Independent News Pakistan,
a national news agency, was injured while covering the blast, Nadeem said.