At the doorstep: Terror pays a visit to homes in Abbas Town

Schools across the province to remain closed today .

KARACHI:

Given the precarious law and order situation of the city, people prefer to coop their loved ones at home. Unfortunately, the flats of people living in Iqra City and Rabia Flower apartments in Abbas Town proved to be no safer than the streets as a powerful blast on Sunday evening simply shaved off the buildings’ façade.

“I was sitting with my family in the lounge, casually flipping through television channels as we usually do,” said 38-year-old Ijaz Ali, who had come to Patel Hospital with his two children. “Suddenly, we heard two blasts. After the second one, the entire flat wobbled and the grille on the window just zipped right across the room and hit us.”  He added that the flats in the floors below had been damaged even more than his.

Sabir Ali, another resident of the area, said that he was offering his Maghrib prayers when he was suddenly thrown off balance by the tremors. Within seconds, there was a deadly blizzard of fans, television sets, grilles and shards of glass. “It seems as if a gigantic hand had tightly gripped the building and was shaking it about.”

Searching for loved ones

Soon after the blast, an emergency was declared at the city’s hospitals. “We have put the security at government hospitals on high alert. We have also advised private medical institutions to do the same,” said the health secretary, Suresh Kumar.

Patel Hospital, the medical institution located closest to the blast site, saw a steady stream of mangled bodies as well as severely injured people in the hours after the blast. The floor leading to the emergency room was splattered with blood but the frazzled staff and attendants were too busy squabbling with one another to take notice of the ruby blotches below their feet.  By around 11pm, the hospital had 8 bodies and over 50 injured, with many being referred to other medical institutions since there was simply no space for them.



Amidst the confusion, people with watery eyes were frantically going around with pictures of their loved ones, asking others if they had seen them. Some had even made trips to more than one hospital to locate family members.

Shagufta had spent a great deal of time at Liaquat National Hospital searching for her sister Fatima. But her efforts to find Fatima proved fruitless and so she immersed herself into the sea of people outside Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, who shared the same pain as hers. “I’ve been calling her on her cell phone but I keep getting no response. I’ve been pleading and wrangling with hospital staff but nobody is helping me.”

Similar scenes were seen at Jinnah hospital and Aga Khan University Hospital. Dr Seemin Jamali, who heads the emergency department at Jinnah hospital, said that 12 bodies and over 40 people injured by the blast had sought treatment there. “We’ve put security on high alert. Through experience, we know that the situation can get worse and we’re trying to keep everything under control.

Schools closed

After the blast, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah and the associations of private schools in the city unanimously announced that they would keep all public and private educational institutions closed on Monday. Officials at the Beaconhouse School System and The City School have also confirmed that all of their campuses across the city will remain closed today owing to the security situation. Meanwhile, Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology vice chancellor, Dr Zafar Iqbal, has also announced the closure of the federally-run institution on Monday.

You can view a slideshow of images taken after the blast here.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 4^th, 2013.