Ramallah, July 22: At least 60 people were injured, several sustaining serious wounds, in a blast occurred during a wedding of former Palestinian Authority security chief Mohammed Dahlan’s relative in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis, local sources said Wednesday.
Sources added that Dahlan’s relative, an officer in the Preventive Security Service, was married at the presence of many of his family members and friends.
The explosion took place as he was getting on the stage.
Ambulances hurried to the scene to transport the injured to the hospital, and police have launched an investigation.
Palestinian sources said the blast was likely the cause of a grenade, and eyewitnesses reported seeing veiled people hurling a grenade at the crowd.
Ministry of Interior spokesperson, Ehab Al-Ghusain, said that initial results of investigations showed that the explosion was not caused by a grenade, but by an explosive charge placed under the stage on which the bridegroom was sitting and the guests were dancing.
He added that the number of people injured was over 20, four with injuries of medium severity.
—-Agencies