'Chaos, utter confusion': Witnesses recall Peshawar mosque blast

PESHAWAR:

He had impulsively stopped for Zuhr prayers before heading back home after an important police meeting – a prayer unknowingly offered in the final moments of his life and under the watchful eyes of death that secretly lurked in one of the rows.

That’s all his family knows. Among the injured in Peshawar’s blast, Inspector Shafiq, could have shared the final moments of his cousin– Inspector Irfanullah – and an accurate account of the attack had tremendous crashing sound not filled his ears and his eyes were not squeezed shut as a result of the explosion.

When Shafiq’s eyes opened, the air was a cloud of masonry dust, with his cousin lying buried dead under the rubble. He is now admitted to the hospital recovering from critical injuries.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Irfanullah’s brother said the martyr is survived by five children, including three daughters and two sons, who are between the ages of eleven and four.

“My brother was serving at the Sarband police station and was returning from an important meeting in the Police Line area when he decided to offer the prayers,” he said.

“His kids were left frantically waiting for their father,” he added, choking on his words.

Irfanullah is one of the 59 victims of the blast that ripped through a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines area on Monday, and his cousin is among 157 battling for life in hospitals.

Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) spokesman Mohammad Asim confirmed the number of casualties as efforts to rescue those trapped under the rubble continued into the night.

Eyewitnesses confirmed that it was a suicide attack by a bomber standing in the front row at the time of the explosion as a result of which the roof and part of the mosque's wall collapsed.

The blast must have reverberated across the city, they added.

Witnesses said that the windows of nearby buildings shattered because of the intensity of the blast.

Read At least 50 injured in Peshawar mosque blast

Shahid Ali, a policeman who survived, said the explosion took place seconds after the imam started prayers. “I saw black smoke rising to the sky. I ran out to save my life,” the 47-year-old told AFP.

“The screams of the people are still echoing in my mind,” he added. “People were screaming for help.”

Chaos in hospitals

Meanwhile, chaos and utter confusion were the order of the day at the hospitals which were up to their neck with patients, with panicked mourners pressing through narrow corridors as the air got thicker with the strong odour of blood, stifling many in emergency wards.

According to first-hand accounts, due to heavy rush outside the emergency gate, the rescue operation was frustrated as ambulances carrying bodies faced difficulties.

Similarly, sources said that due to a large number of injured in the trauma room, the facilities had fallen short of beds.

However, amidst this terror that gripped the entire city, a large number of people emerged on the scene, thronging to the hospitals to donate their blood to save lives.

Witnesses saw a deluge of people rushing to the hospitals after the hospital administration had issued an appeal seeking blood donations in aid for the injured.

“The zeal was coursing through the crowd that filled the premises. The hospital administration had to request the people to stop coming for more blood donations to prevent the rush as it had already received enough donations,” an eyewitness shared.

All relevant medical staff and doctors have been called on duty and their leaves cancelled with immediate effect. However, despite this, the doctors and nurses were facing difficulties.

After identifying most of the victims in the hospital, their bodies have been shifted to the mortuary.

Law enforcement agencies cordoned off the attack site and have started an initial investigation. The GT Road near Bala Hisar was also closed to traffic.

A member of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack. However, no formal statement of any such claim was issued by the terrorist outfit.