Mattani market bomb: Blast victim dies after seven months in coma

Khan was a father of nine children.

PESHAWAR: Khan was added to the long list of people who have died in terrorist attacks, when he passed away on Tuesday night after spending seven months in coma.

A taxi driver by profession, Khan was injured in the Mattani market blast on August 31 last year. The bomb placed in a car in Malik Market outside Sheri mosque, Mattani killed 12 people and injured another 20. At least 10 shops in the locality were destroyed and the mosque partially damaged.

Khan’s taxi, his only source of income, was also destroyed in the incident.  “He was a poor man and the president of Mohallah Tokar Khel Mattani. His family spent around one million on his treatment by selling jewellery and most household items,” said a local elder Haji Asad Khan.



He said the injured victims were given Rs50,000 in monetary aid. “The money was not even enough for a month’s treatment,” Asad said.  He leaves behind a widow, two sons and seven daughters.

Victims of the Mattani blast were also deprived of timely medical treatment. When the injured were brought to the area’s civil hospital, there were no doctors on duty. The deceased and wounded could not even be taken to the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) in time because of a shortage of ambulances. Instead the victims were brought to the Lady Reading Hospital in private cars.

One of the vehicles that were destroyed — the double-cabin pickup truck belonged to the political tehsildar of North Waziristan Agency, Hashim Gul, son of Rehmat Gul. The Express Tribune learned that Hashim, his brother Zahir Shah, son Sajid Gul and cousin Ajab Gul were among the deceased. Their bodies were beyond recognition.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7^th, 2013.