Ancholi blast aftermath: ‘She went flying, then vanished’

Father lost grip over two-year-old girl after first bomb blast, found her three hours later.

KARACHI:

Abdul Basit was holding his two-year-old Unza Gabool on his shoulders when he heard the first blast at Ancholi on Friday night.

“She flew into the air and then vanished from my sight,” the father trembled as he recalled.

At around 11:30pm on Friday, Basit had taken his daughter out to buy some cake. On his way to the bakery, he stopped at a paan cabin to greet its owner, Muhammad Yousuf. “You look happy today,” Yousuf had asked him. “It’s Unza’s birthday tonight,” the proud father replied.

Yousuf insisted Basit have some paan and that was when a motorcycle parked nearby exploded. He fell down and lost consciousness. “We only saw Basit with his wounds in the ambulance,” his father, Abdul Samad said, adding that they were not even sure where Unza disappeared - whether she was alive or not. “There was panic everywhere. We tried looking for her but we couldn’t find her.”



Luckily after three hours, the family received a call from an ambulance driver informing them that Unza was alive but she had some injuries. “Some people said she flew in the air and fell down on the ground,” said Samad. “Everyone was running but she had only a few injuries.”

By Saturday afternoon, the birthday girl was discharged from the hospital but her father is in critical condition. The family said he cannot hear properly now.

There are nearly 47 victims of the twin blasts admitted at Aga Khan Hospital and all of them were grateful the area was not as crowded as it usually is. “We know that there is always a second blast but, we lost our senses after the first one,” an injured man, Javed Haider admitted. The hearing of several other victims of the Ancholi blasts has been affected. One of them is 20-year-old Zeeshan, who is in critical condition at Aga Khan Hospital. After having dinner at home, Zeeshan was enjoying tea with a friend on the roadside tea shop when the first blast occurred. The entire neighbourhood blacked out and Zeeshan tried to run away, but unfortunately, he ran towards the spot where the second explosion occurred. This time, Zeeshan was severely injured - his face is almost burnt.

“My son left home just about 10 minutes before the blast,” his father, Yaqoub, said. “I heard the explosions and ran towards the spot. I was looking for my son but couldn’t find him.” Yaqoub was also informed by an ambulance driver about his son’s whereabouts.

And then there were those who were not residents of the neighbourhood. Farhan, 18, and his family came from Shah Faisal Colony to attend a birthday party. “We were about to leave for home when Farhan stepped out for a cold drink,” his mother, Shazia, narrated. “I heard the blast and tried to call him. He attended my call but couldn’t talk - he was crying in pain.”

There were severe injuries on both of his legs and the doctors operated on his right knee Saturday morning. “He is my only son. I can’t see him in this condition,” Shazia wept.

Ancholi Milk Shop’s owner, Muhammad Haroon, 42, is also injured. He was at his house, which is near the shop, when the first explosion took place.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 24^th, 2013.