Death toll in Lahore attacks rises to 37

LAHORE: Thirty-seven people were killed and over 150 others injured in three back-to-back explosions, occurring in Lahore when processions of Yaum-e-Ali were on their way to conclude at the Karbala Gamay Shah in the city on Wednesday.The first blast of a cracker occurred in front of the gate of Lower Mall police station, opposite Karbala Gamay Shah building, at 6:55 pm. It caused panic among the mourners, who started running towards the Bhatti Gate. Meanwhile, the second blast took place in Ghaznavi Street, Urdu Bazaar’s parking area, at around 7 pm when a suicide bomber blew himself up while he was being frisked by a constable. Two persons, along with the constable, lost their lives in the blast. Other policemen standing there fled the spot.The third blast occurred at the Bhatti Chowk when another suicide bomber blew himself up about 13 minutes after the second blast. As a result, dozens of people received injuries. A number of people received injuries in stampede when mourners ran in various directions to save their lives. Panic gripped not only the mourners but also the policemen who, instead of maintaining the law and order situation, fled, leaving the injured in pools of blood at the Bhatti Chowk. The furious mob took the amputated legs of the suicide bomber, who had blown himself up at the Bhatti Gate, to the front gate of the Government College University and vented their anger by hitting them with shoes, sticks and bricks.The angry mob, armed with clubs and sticks, besieged the Lower Mall police station and set a police truck on fire. The police fired tear-gas shells and resorted to firing into the air from the rooftop of the building to disperse the mob, which was trying to make their forced entry into the building. A woman said she, along with her two children, huddled behind a counter placed on a footpath as she could not leave the place because of the mad rush. A youth said the explosion was louder than a jet engine sound. The impact was so great that it shattered windowpanes of the nearby shops and buildings. He said his brother suffered injuries from flying articles. “When I saw the rescue workers coming up, I knew that everything would be all right,” he added.The angry mob overpowered the policemen and gave them a good thrashing. The policemen standing far away from the scene could not dare come forward to rescue their colleagues. The protesters also pulled drivers of several ambulances out of their vehicles and beat them up. They damaged dozens of ambulances and police vehicles with sticks and bricks. The protesters chanted slogans against the police over the security lapse. The angry mob also pelted security officials and the media personnel with stones. A police personnel carrier was seen running over the mob when the driver witnessed the angry mob beating up the policemen with kicks, fists and sticks. Many people complained that the police did not install walkthrough gates at the entry points. According to Rescue 1122, over 150 injured persons had been shifted to various hospitals, and 65 of them, including six policemen, were stated to be critical. Around 85 injured persons were taken to the Mayo Hospital besides 11 bodies brought to the city morgue. At least, 25 injured were taken to the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. Women, children and policemen were among the injured. Right after the incident, emergency was declared in all the government hospitals while emergency counters were established to facilitate the patients’ relatives. Due to the violent reaction of the protesters, the police could not preserve the crime sites. The charred body parts of many victims were still lying at the crime scene. However, the police recovered the torsos of the two suicide bombers. Senior police officers, including CCPO Lahore, DIG Operations and others did not reach the crime site. They did not inspect the crime scene, including Bhatti Gate and Ghaznavi Street. The commissioner and the DCO admitted the incident occurred due to a security lapse. No FIR was registered till the filing of the report.Meanwhile, doctors of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital closed the emergency after an exchange of hot words with policemen and relatives of the injured people. Meanwhile, various political and religious leaders strongly condemned the explosions. They were Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, President Asif Zardari, Pakistan Muslim League-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, PML-Q leaders Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain and Ch Pervaiz Elahi, Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Syed Munawwar Hasan, leaders of Sunni Ittehad Council and Tahafuz-i-Namoos-i-Risalat Mahaz (TNRM), Haji Fazal Karim, Riaz Hussain Shah, Raghib Hussain Naeemi, and Haji Hanif Tayyab, Majlis-e-Wahdat-e-Muslimeen leader Abdul Khaliq Asadi and others. PM Gilani, President Zardari, CM Shahbaz Sharif promised to bring the culprits to book and provide all help to the injured at government hospitals.