Over 200 injured, most of victims were women and children
LAHORE, March 27: As many as sixty-five people have been killed while two hundred others injured in a suicide bomb explosion in Lahore on Sunday night.
According to media reports, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a park in a densely populated area of the metropolis, killing at least 65 people and injuring over 200 others, police and rescue official said. The blast place took place just outside the exit gate and a few feet away from children´s swings at the Allama Iqbal Park in Iqbal Town, the police said.
The dead and injured most of them women and children were shifted to various hospitals where an emergency was declared after the blast. Police, Army personnel, Bomb Disposal Squad and forensic experts reached the park and placed a cordon to gather evidence.
DIG Operations Haider Ashraf said that evidence suggest the blast carried out by a suicide bomber but further investigation would determine the exact nature of the blast. The injured were moved to the Jinnah, Sheikh Zaid and other hospitals for treatment. Hospital sources said more casualties were feared as some of the injured were in critical condition.
Provincial Health Advisor Khawaja Salman Rafique has appealed to the citizens to donate blood in hospitals. A large portion of those who died in the blast include women and children. As a result of the blast, windows of nearby buildings shattered and damage was done to various structures. All public hospitals in the city have been placed on emergency after the horrific incident. Pakistan army troops reached the scene and took control over the entire park.
District Coordination Officer (DCO) Lahore Capt. (r) Muhammad Usman also reached the crime scene and while talking to the media he stated that no particular community was targretted in the blast. “The Gulshan Iqbal park belongs to all”, he said.
On the other hand Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has expressed his grief and shock over the loss of precious lives in the deadly blast in the heart of Lahore. Reacting over the incident Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran Khan said: “I strongly condemn the terror attack in Lahore in which our innocent citizens including women & children lost their lives” Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has declared Monday a day of mourning.-Online
