Doomsday: A deafening bang and thick smoke

Suicide blast leaves five dead, dozens injured.

LAHORE: It was around 12:30pm. Policemen deployed at the District Police Lines saw a suicide bomber running towards the building and fired warning shots at him – he blew himself up near an electricity pole in front of Sardar’s Hotel, a policemen deployed at the police lines said.

Operations DIG Dr Haider Ashraf said the bomber appeared to be in his early 20s and was wearing a 10-kg suicide jacket lined with ball bearings, nut and bolts.

Within minutes of the blast, large contingents of police and bureaucrats and Edhi and Rescue-1122 ambulances arrived at the scene.

Ghulam Ahmad, who was present near the site of the attack, said that the bomb explosion had rocked the entire vicinity.

Inspector General Mushtaq Ahmad Sukhera said that they had received intelligence reports about a suicide bomber in the city.

Investigation SSP Rana Ayyaz Saleem said the police had started investigating the incident using surveillance camera footage.

He said that 15 motorcycles and 10 cars had been destroyed in the attack. The building next to the police lines caught fire which the Fire Brigade later put out.

The Bomb Disposal Squad too arrived at the scene within minutes.

Police cordoned off the area and Punjab Forensic Science Agency officials gathered evidence in the area.

Policemen, Rescue-1122 workers and media people arrive at the terrorism scene following a suicide bombing (top) Volunteers take an injured man to an ambulance (above). PHOTO: SHAFIQ MALIK/EXPRESS

Headquarters SP Omer Saeed said, “We are proud of our brave police officials who gave their lives in the line of duty.”

Five dead, dozens injured

Mukhtar Shah was crossing the road to deliver tea at Ali Complex when the explosion occurred. “For several seconds, all we could see was a huge ball of fire and thick black smoke,” said Nadeem, his nephew who ran a roadside tea stall with Shah. When the smoke cleared, Shah was lying on the road motionless. “I ran to pick him up. He was bleeding profusely from the head,” he said.

Dozens of people in an 80-feet radius from the site of the explosion received injuries. Five of them died. Those injured were taken to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Services Hospital and Mayo Hospital.

His clothes stained with blood, Nadeem ran from pillar to post at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital asking about his uncle. He was told to wait and pray for his recovery. Doctors treating him said Shah had fractured his skull and was in critical condition. He is one of the 17 people who were brought to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in serious condition. Doctors said Naseer Ahmad, another victim, was also critically injured.  Two of the patients brought to the hospital – Sub Inspector Rana Yousaf and Head Constable Amjad Abbas – died later in the day.

Abdul Haseeb, who was being treated for multiple wounds incurred in the explosion, said his father, Head Constable Amjad Abbas, he and his uncle were visiting a travel agency in the vicinity when the blast occurred, “I remember a deafening bang... next, I was being wheeled into the hospital,” he said. Haseeb’s father and uncle were among the five who died in the explosion.

Mayo Hospital MS Amjad Shehzad identified the deceased as Muhammad Abbass, 22; Waqar Ahmad, 35; Rana Yousaf; and Amjad Abbass, 35. An unidentified person who appeared to be around 35 years old had also died in the incident, he said.

Shehzad said 11 people, including children and two lady constables, who were injured in the attack were brought to Mayo Hospital. He said their condition was stable.

Four people, including a woman, injured in the attack were taken to Services Hospital.

An emergency was declared in all government hospitals after the incident.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2015.