Quetta explosion: Blast kills two, injures 15
Police vehicle suspected to be target of attack.
Security officials inspect the site of a bomb explosion in Quetta on Thursday. PHOTO: AFP
QUETTA:
At least two persons were killed and 15 others wounded on Thursday when a bomb attached to a cycle exploded on the Double Road during rush hour traffic here. A woman and a child were among the injured.
A police van was patrolling the area at the time of the blast. The two victims, however, were passersby, not police officials. Mohammed Shaukat, the Station House Officer at the Industrial police station, said he believed “the police van was the likely target”.
According to the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS), around five kilograms of explosive materials were used in the blast. Officials said unidentified persons fitted an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) to a bicycle and parked it between two cars on the Double Road. The device was detonated as the police van passed by. The blast was heard within a radius of three to four kilometres. Three cars and two motorcycles caught fire and were damaged in the blast.
A heavy contingent of Frontier Corps, police and rescue workers reached the spot and cordoned off the area after the incident. “I was in the area to buy automobile [spare] parts when the explosion occurred,” said Abdullah, a local who sustained minor injuries. “The floor shook and the area was covered in thick smoke. Many people were lying injured on the floor and the area was packed with people and vehicles. All I could see were people’s clothes soaked in blood.”
“Two bodies and 15 injured people were brought to the hospital. Two of the injured are in a critical condition,” said Abdul Rasheed Jamali, the hospital’s medico-legal officer. “One body was decapitated while another’s legs were missing,” he added. The bodies were kept at morgue for identification. A 22-year-old woman and a 7-year-old child also sustained splinter wounds.
A large number of people reached the hospital, seeking their relatives.
DIG Police Syed Mobin Ahmed said an investigation has been opened into the incident. SHO Shaukat said a banned organization could be behind the attack as the modus operandi suggests so.
This is the second bombing on Double Road in the last eight months. No group has claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack yet.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2014.
At least two persons were killed and 15 others wounded on Thursday when a bomb attached to a cycle exploded on the Double Road during rush hour traffic here. A woman and a child were among the injured.
A police van was patrolling the area at the time of the blast. The two victims, however, were passersby, not police officials. Mohammed Shaukat, the Station House Officer at the Industrial police station, said he believed “the police van was the likely target”.
According to the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS), around five kilograms of explosive materials were used in the blast. Officials said unidentified persons fitted an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) to a bicycle and parked it between two cars on the Double Road. The device was detonated as the police van passed by. The blast was heard within a radius of three to four kilometres. Three cars and two motorcycles caught fire and were damaged in the blast.
A heavy contingent of Frontier Corps, police and rescue workers reached the spot and cordoned off the area after the incident. “I was in the area to buy automobile [spare] parts when the explosion occurred,” said Abdullah, a local who sustained minor injuries. “The floor shook and the area was covered in thick smoke. Many people were lying injured on the floor and the area was packed with people and vehicles. All I could see were people’s clothes soaked in blood.”
“Two bodies and 15 injured people were brought to the hospital. Two of the injured are in a critical condition,” said Abdul Rasheed Jamali, the hospital’s medico-legal officer. “One body was decapitated while another’s legs were missing,” he added. The bodies were kept at morgue for identification. A 22-year-old woman and a 7-year-old child also sustained splinter wounds.
A large number of people reached the hospital, seeking their relatives.
DIG Police Syed Mobin Ahmed said an investigation has been opened into the incident. SHO Shaukat said a banned organization could be behind the attack as the modus operandi suggests so.
This is the second bombing on Double Road in the last eight months. No group has claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack yet.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2014.