French hunt Karachi bombers

The French survivors were flown to Orly airport, near Paris

KARACHI, Pakistan -- French investigators have arrived in Pakistan to join the team hunting bombers who killed 14 people.

Pakistani detectives are trying to trace three suspects who they believe bought the car which carried the bomb.

Eleven French nationals and three Pakistanis died in the Karachi blast on Wednesday and 23 were wounded, 12 of them French. (Full story)

The French survivors have been flown home on a German Airbus A310 accompanied by a team of medics. A second flight is being arranged to repatriate the French bodies.

The bomb is the third attack targeting Westerners in Pakistan after the kidnap and murder of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl and the bombing of a church in Islamabad although investigators are not linking the incidents.

A Pakistan investigator told Reuters news agency sketches were being prepared of three people who bought the 1974 Toyota Corolla that was turned into a bomb.

CNN NewsPass VIDEO France's minister of defense visits 12 French nationals injured in a bomb blast Wednesday. CNN's Ash-har Quraishi reports (May 9) Play video   GALLERY Chaos in Karachi    MORE STORIES • Blast forces NZ cricket team to end tour

He said the car, which was exploded by a suicide bomber as it drew alongside a Pakistan Navy bus, was bought for 100,000 rupees ($1,667).

"We are trying to trace three suspects, who bought the car. We are not sure whether those people were directly involved in the attack or they may have handed over the car to some other people who actually executed the plan," he said.

"The car is the only evidence we have and we are hoping that it will lead us to further clues...but there is no breakthrough as yet.

"The way the attack was carried out suggests it was carefully planned and executed by trained and committed people," the investigator added.

French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, who visited the French survivors on Friday confirmed French investigators had arrived in Karachi to join the inquiry.

Alliot-Marie, who was only appointed defence minister on Tuesday, also toured the bomb site.

She said: "This horrible terrorist act reinforces the determination of France to take a large part in fight against international terrorist organisations.

The blast ripped apart the bus carrying French engineers

"Our doctors, specialists in forensics, are continuing their work as some of the bodies are not yet formerly identified. It could take a few days.

The French victims were engineers from the Department of Naval Construction (DCN) working on a project with the Pakistan Navy to build two submarines, and would typically travel to Karachi for tours lasting up to two months.

Eight were from the northern port of Cherbourg, where a counselling service has been set up for relatives, a spokeswoman at DCN headquarters told Reuters. Two were from the coastal region of Finistere and one from Charente. (Shock in Cherbourg)

DCN Director Laurent Barthelemy said more than 20 of the department's team were on the bus at the time of the attack.

Pakistan Information Minister Nisar Memon said: "We will (catch) those who were responsible for this act. We arrested the killers of Daniel Pearl and we will act similarly in this case."