Tragedy at Alhamra: Bomb hoax led to the stampede

Ten people, including security in-charge, have been arrested.

LAHORE:

The stampede that killed three girls on Monday as they exited the Alhamra Cultural Complex after attending the Atif Aslam concert was caused when the crowd exiting was told by boys passing by that a bomb was planted at the concert venue, said administration officials of the Punjab Group of Colleges.

The bowl shaped open air Alhamra Cultural Complex was packed to capacity on Monday night. The concert was scheduled to end at 9 pm but it went on beyond that time. There was no police or Alhamra security inside where guards employed by Punjab Group of Colleges were taking care of the security.

When the concert ended, dozens of girls tried to approach Aslam for his autograph and were pushed back to make way for him. According to Punjab Group of Colleges administration officials, when Aslam left, one of the gates was opened for the girls to exit. When some of them had reached the main gate which is few dozen yards away from the Cultural Complex, some boys passing by claimed that a bomb had been planted at the concert venue. Some girls then rushed back believing the bomb was planted near the main gate. Meanwhile, those in the theater tried to hurry out.  Some girls fell down in the melee. Three girls died in the stampede while several others were injured.

The administration, Alhamra officials and police all agree that one gate was opened for the girls to exit, however, the college administration and police differ on the number of students present at the time. “The event was only for the girls of Punjab Group of Colleges. The capacity of the Complex is around 4,500 but there were around 7,000 girls inside,” an official of Cultural Complex said. DIG Operations Ghulam Mahmood Dogar also confirmed that there were around 7,000 people inside.

Punjab Group of Colleges Public Relations Officer Tahira Qasim said there were around 3, 000 students. “We organise such events every year. On Monday it was for the girls only. No untoward incident has ever taken place. This is unfortunate. We have cancelled all our scheduled concerts and programmes,” she told The Express Tribune. She added that the loss was irreplaceable but the colleges would compensate the families.

Punjab Group of Colleges Campus 8 Principal Agha Tahir Ijaz said that two of the deceased were BCom students while one was in intermediate. “We are in touch with the families. None of them has initiated any legal action against us,” he maintained.

The police have registered a case under Sections 322 (whoever without any intention causes harm to another) and 337 (whoever does an act with the knowledge that it is likely to cause harm) of the Pakistan Penal Code in Gulberg Police Station. Ten people including security-in charge Major (retd) Saleem, his assistant Subedar Iqbal and eight guards of the college have been arrested. The principal has been nominated in the FIR, however, he hasn’t been arrested.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 11^th, 2012.