Peshawar bombing: Yet another blood-spattered day at LRH

CM Khattak visits the hospital, announces compensation for victims.

PESHAWAR:

The atmosphere at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH)’s trauma unit was emotionally charged and chaotic on Tuesday following a suicide bomb attack on a Frontier Corps (FC) convoy near Peshawar Press Club.

At least four people were killed in the blast while 21 were injured. The deceased and injured were shifted to the emergency ward in LRH and Combined Military Hospital.

The trauma unit was congested and a state of panic loomed large. The injured moaned in pain while nurses and doctors struggled to cope with the large number of casualties.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, LRH’s Chief Executive Muzafar Sadiq said the hospital had received three bodies. They have been identified as Saba Gul, Muhammad Zahir Khan and an FC official identified as Zareen Afridi. Another victim, identified as Lal Zada, was rushed to the hospital and died later in the day.

The chief executive added 13 people who were injured in the attack were brought to the LRH and were being treated free of cost.

The Lady Reading Hospital Media Centre released the names of some of the people who were injured in the attack. They have been identified as Anwar Khan – who is an FC official from Malakand – Fazli Subhan, Imdad Khan, Inayatullah, Muhammad Rizwan, Noor Alam, Rizwanullah, Sajjad Hussain and Zar Khan. Two others could not be identified.

Human cost

Imdad Khan, a victim who was brought to the LRH, was travelling to Khyber Bazaar from Saddar Chowk on a bus. As they were crossing the Peshawar Press Club, a bomb planted inside a nearby car went off. After the blast, FC personnel started firing indiscriminately.

Another victim, Sajjad Hussain, sustained a bullet injury to his foot during the firing.

“I wanted to escape from the blast site but could not do so because my foot was injured,” he said.

Sobia, an eyewitness to the incident, was travelling along with her sister. They were driving on Sher Shah Suri Road and had reached the Peshawar Press Club when the attack took place.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, she recalled hearing a loud explosion after the bomb went off. “A minute later, I realised that my sister was dead.”

Sobia sustained minor injuries on her arms and hands.

Another eyewitness, Inayatullah, who sustained injuries to the head and arms, said that they were travelling on a bus and going to Haji Camp Adda. When the bus approached the Peshawar Press Club, the explosion occurred and several mutilated bodies were strewn across the road, he added.

“Some people in a rickshaw were in critical condition and were calling out for help,” Inayatullah said.

CM visits the injured

Chief Minister Pervez Khattak has condemned the attack on security forces in Peshawar Cantt and pledged to bring the culprits to book.

According to a handout issued on Tuesday, he visited the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) to enquire after the health of those injured in the attack.

Khattak insisted his government would eliminate the root of militancy in the province, the handout added.

The chief minister announced compensation for the victims of the blast under the Shuhada package. According to the handout, the heirs of the people who died in the attack would receive Rs500,000 while those who are critically injured will get Rs200,000. The FC men who died or were injured in the attack would receive compensation at a departmental level.

Leaders of various political parties also condemned the attack.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2014.