Peshawar madrassa blast toll rises

Victim Bilal Jan died while under treatment at HMC burns centre

PESHAWAR:

Another victim of the Peshawar madrassa blast breathed his last at the Hayatabad Medical Complex on Thursday, raising the toll in last week’s terrorist attack to nine.

At least eight students had been martyred and nearly 100 others suffered injuries when a powerful bomb had ripped through the Jamia Zubaria of Peshawar last week.

Bilal Jan, a student of the Dir Colony madrassa, had suffered serious burn injuries in the blast and had been admitted to the burns centre of the Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC).

The Jamia Zubaira on its social media page on Thursday posted that another victim of the deadly bomb blast had succumbed to his injuries. While the hospital did not officially confirm Jan’s death, hospital sources did say that he had suffered severe burns on over 70 per cent of his body as a result of the blast, including his face and upper torso. This meant that his chances of survival were slim.

Meanwhile, at least four other victims of the blast remain under treatment at HMC.

According to Peshawar police’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), a bag full of explosives had been planted inside the hall of the Jamia Zubairia in Dir Colony. The explosives went off as the students took Hadith lessons.

Seven students were martyred on the spot, while one later succumbed to his wounds at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), according to the CTD. The bodies and the injured were shifted to the LRH and the HMC by the Rescue 1122 service and Edhi ambulances.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 6^th, 2020.