The man who cheated death seven times

PESHAWAR: Muhammad Hussain is lucky to be alive. He escaped Saturday’s deadly bombing in Parachinar unscathed. Surprisingly, it’s not the first time he has survived a terrorist attack; he has already cheated death at least six times before this.

“I’ve seen much blood and gore. I’ve been witness to seven bomb and suicide attacks during the last six years. And I’ve seen dozens of people dying right in front of my eyes,” says Hussain, the president of Parachinar’s vegetable market where an improvised explosive device killed and maimed dozens of people on Saturday morning.

Recalling the latest horror, 40-year-old Hussain says the bomb was perhaps concealed in a crate near the tomato stock – hardly three metres away from where he was standing. “It was raining. And the rain had added chill to the cold temperature,” he told The Express Tribune by phone from Parachinar.



“Normally, 1,200 to 1,500 people visit the market every morning,” said Hussain, who has been associated with the business for the past 22 years. “Luckily, today the cold weather turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Around 500 people were present in the market when the bomb went off.”

“An ear-splitting explosion rang out and I was tossed on the ground by the thud,” recalled Hussain. “I was buried in a pile of empty crates,” he added.

Hussain said the whole market was covered in dirt and smoke for a few minutes. “When the smoke cleared, I saw complete chaos: people were running and shouting in panic and victims strewn in front of vegetables shops among smashed crates and pushcarts.”

Since the market is situated near a bus terminal, Hussain and many other survivors started shifting the casualties to hospital in passenger vehicles before security personnel cordoned off the area.



Hussain, who is also chairman of the Haidri Blood Bank, said that almost every visitor to the market was known to them. “We didn’t see any outsider today. In fact, the market was scanned by a bomb disposal unit and sniffer dogs minutes before the blast,” He added.

Kurram Agency, of which Parachinar is the main town, is a hot bed for sectarian tension. And keeping that in view, the local administration continuously issues threat alerts. “However, there have been no threats for the past two months.”

Hussain also ruled out the blast had been caused by suicide bomber. “There is a huge crater at the bombsite which suggests the bomb might have been hidden in a crate.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 22^nd, 2017.