Chinese engineers escape botched bomb attack

Experts say detonator of roadside bomb went off but the device didn’t.

KARACHI:

A group of Chinese engineers escaped an abortive bomb attack in the Chinese Harbour area, in the Clifton neighbourhood of Karachi, on Tuesday.

“Thanks God, the bomb did not explode,” Nasir Aftab, SSP Clifton Division, told The Express Tribune. “Apparently, a vehicle carrying 11 Chinese engineers was the target,” he added.

Suspected terrorists tried to trigger the bomb when the vehicle drove past, Bomb Disposal Squad officials said, adding that the detonator went off but luckily the device did not explode.

According to the officials, it was a remote-controlled device, weighing 7.5 kilogrammes. Balls bearings were also used in the device to inflict maximum casualties, they added.

The Chinese engineers and their Pakistani driver heard the explosion but did not stop to find out what happened. A Rangers squad escorting the van on motorcycles immediately informed the police. Rangers and police officials cordoned off the area while BDS defuse the bomb.

According to BDS officials, the device was concealed in a plastic bin hidden in the bushes along the roadside. A BDS official told The Express Tribune that the suspected terrorist who detonated the bomb would have been present within 100 metres of where the device was planted.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 22^nd, 2013.