Seminary blast: Death toll rises as one more victim succumbs to injuries at hospital

KARACHI:

The death toll from the blast in a seminary in Orangi Town rose to four as one more victim succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday.

Three students were killed and nine others wounded when a Chinese-manufactured hand grenade exploded inside a classroom at the seminary, Jamia Masjid-wa-Madrassa Islamia Tahiria, in Frontier Colony, Orangi Town, on Monday.

The explosion occurred when one of the victims, Salman Khan, brought the grenade inside the classroom. On Tuesday, one of the injured students, eleven-year-old Ismail son of Bakht Nawaz, died during treatment at the hospital. The funeral prayers for Salman Khan and Ismail were offered near their homes and they were later laid to rest at the Metroville graveyard.

On the other hand, police investigators have been unable to determine how the grenade ended up in the student's hands and how he took it inside the building. "It remains a mystery," Orangi SP Sajid Sadozai told The Express Tribune. "The investigators need to ascertain how the whole episode occurred."

No case has been registered about the incident yet. SP Sadozai said that the police was looking for the seminary administration to register a case on their behalf. "We will register the case on behalf of the state if the seminary administration refuses to do so," he explained. The officer said that the police will put sections 302 of the Pakistan Penal Code, 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and ¾ of the Explosives Act in the FIR. 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2014.