The death toll in the ambulance bombing of a crowded area in Kabul, Afghanistan has increased to 95, with 158 people wounded.
Officials gave the new figures later on Saturday. The blast, claimed by the Taliban, was one of the biggest blasts to rock the war-torn city in recent years.
It was the the second assault carried out by the militant group in the Afghan capital in a week.
It triggered chaotic scenes as terrified survivors fled the area scattered with body parts, blood and debris, and hospitals were overwhelmed by the large number of wounded.
It came as both the insurgents and the Islamic State group have escalated their attacks on Kabul, one of the deadliest places in Afghanistan for civilians.
The AFP reported “lots of dead and wounded” civilians in the Jamuriate hospital, which is metres away from the blast and where medical staff struggled to treat the bloodied men, women and children lying on the floor in corridors.
Health ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh told AFP that the toll “now stands at 95 dead, 158 wounded”, shortly after the interior ministry warned that an earlier death toll of 63 could rise.
The blast happened in an area where several high-profile organisations, including the European Union, have offices. Members of the EU delegation in Kabul were in their “safe room” and there were no casualties, an official told AFP.
The force of the explosion shook windows of buildings at least two kilometres (more than a mile) away and caused some low-rise structures in the immediate vicinity to collapse.
“At the second checkpoint he was recognised and blew his explosive-laden car,” Nasrat Rahimi said