Morning after: Silence at Empress Road after attack

Don Bosco school remained closed on Wednesday and will open today

LAHORE: Most routine activities remained suspended on Wednesday following Tuesday’s suicide attack near Qila Gujjar Singh Police Lines. The affected commercial plaza and a missionary school nearby were closed.

Empress Road, where Police Lines is situated, was closed for traffic from Shimla Hill to the City railway station. The crime scene was cordoned off. Armed policemen patrolled the area.

Many people visited the site and attempted to peek through tents to get a glimpse of the crime scene where damaged motorbikes and cars were parked front of a four-storey plaza, Empress House.

Don Bosco High School was closed. Some of the students had turned up in the morning but were sent back. They were told that the school would re-open on Thursday.

Muhammad Amjad, father of a student at Don Bosco, told The Express Tribune that he had brought his son to the school on Wednesday with a heavy heart but was told it was closed.

He said many students did not want to go to school after the attack but they had to return to school some day.

“There has been a month-long break following the attack on Army Public School,” he said. Mian Ikram, a travel agency worker, told The Express Tribune that his motorbike was destroyed in the explosion. He said police would not let him retrieve it.

He said offices in the building had not been damaged but the workers were not being allowed to enter.

Also on Wednesday, the fifth deceased in the attack was indentified as Muhammad Nadeem of Chichawatni. His identity had not been ascertained on Tuesday. He had come for a job interview at the travel agency. Five injured were discharged from Ganga Ram Hospital. Four people at Mayo Hospital were reported to be in a stable condition. As many as 10 others are under treatment at Ganga Ram Hospital and eight at Mayo Hospital. Two of them were reported to be critically injured. Investigation SSP Rana Ayaz Saleem told The Express Tribune police had recorded statements of the injured. He said police were searching for the bomber’s accomplices using telephone data and DNA information.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 19^th, 2015.