Blasts toll rises to 49, injures 180 in Pakistan's Lahore
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The death tally of the twin blasts in eastern Pakistan's Lahore on Monday evening has mounted to 49 while another 180 persons were injured including some in the worst critical condition, city official said Tuesday.
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TV grab taken on Dec. 7, 2009 shows people gathering at the explosion site at the Moon Market in Lahore in east Pakistan. [Xinhua] |
According to sources, the two consecutive blasts ripped through Lahore's commercial center late on Monday night. The first blast was a suicide attack while the second was detonated through remote control device.
However, the district administration said that both the blasts were result of suicide bombing and that the heads of both the bombers have been recovered from the site of the incident.
The Edhi Welfare Trust sources have put the death toll at 49. On the other hand, Lahore police officer Pervez Rathor has confirmed deaths of 37 people in both the attacks. The number of injured is over 180, he added.
Initially, Director General Rescue Operation said that 38 people died in the incident while 90 others were injured. Those hurt also included women and children.
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TV grab taken on Dec. 7, 2009 shows the blaze after two explosions hit the Moon Market in Lahore in east Pakistan. [Xinhua] |
The two blasts occurred within seconds of each other at Lahore's busy Moon Market in Allama Iqbal Town locality. The first blast took place in the middle of the market while the second one near a private bank.
Fire erupted in the market immediately after the blasts, engulfing a number of shops and motorcycles parked in the nearby parking space.
The powerful blasts also shattered the windowpanes of the surrounding buildings.
Rescue efforts were immediately got underway after the blasts and the bodies and injured persons were started to be rushed in ambulances to nearby hospitals where emergency had been declared shortly after the tragic incident.
Some of the injured persons are said to be critical in condition.
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A man runs past a blaze after a bomb explosion at a market in Lahore Dec. 7, 2009. [Xinhua/Reuters Photo] |
District Coordination Officer Lahore Sajjad Bhutta and heavy police contingents along with high officials reached the spot of the tragic incident.
Moon market is a commercial center of Iqbal Town, Lahore, where shoppers are normally present in large numbers. A suicide attack had also been launched at a police station in this area on Aug. 13 last year in which eight people lost their lives.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in separate messages strongly condemned the twin blasts in Lahore. President Zardari said such cowardly acts of terrorism would not deter the government's resolve to fight this menace in the country.
Lahore is Pakistan's second-largest city and is not far from the border with India. It has been hit several times by militants over the last year.
More than 400 people have been killed in attacks in recent months in Pakistan. Most attacks have been directed at security forces, though several targeted crowded public spaces such as markets.
