* Up to 10kg of explosives used
* President says such cowardly acts cannot dent govt?s resolve to fight terrorism
LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: At least three people, including a Railway Police official, died and around 45 others received injuries when a bomb exploded at Platform No 2 of the Lahore Railway Station on Tuesday.
The blast took place near the reservation office of Pakistan Business Train at around 6:40pm. Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) officials said 8-10 kilogrammes of explosive material was used in the blast. They said the bomb was possibly detonated using a timer or a remote control. The deceased were identified as Muhammad Idress, a head constable of Railway Police, Muhammad Bota, a railway loader, while the identity of the third could not be ascertained.
The reservation office was severely damaged. The bomb was reported to have been concealed inside a black bag. The blast left a 10-foot-wide crater. Three of the major hospitals of the city, Mayo Hospital, Services Hospital and Ganga Ram Hospital, immediately vacated their emergency wards to treat the injured. Administrations of all these hospitals, while talking to Daily Times, assured that they had taken all necessary measures to treat the blast victims without any delay in emergency wards. The hospitals displayed the names of the injured and dead outside the emergency wards for the convenience of the relatives.
The Mayo Hospital administration said they had received three dead bodies and 25 injured, some of whom were children and women. Some of the injured persons? condition was serious, and the hospital anticipated a rise in the number of fatalities. Services Hospital administration confirmed receiving two injured persons, and they were operated on in an effort to save their lives.
According to the administration of the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, the hospital received around seven injured persons. Of these the condition of three was serious and a team of doctors struggled to save their lives. Around 11 injured persons were shifted to the Railway Cairns Hospital, from where one was shifted to the Mayo Hospital in critical condition.
An eyewitness who was at the Pakistan Business Train?s counter at the time of the blast, claimed that metal detectors and walk-through gates at the station were not functioning. Lahore CCPO Aslam Tareen said security had been beefed up in the city following the blast. Terming it an act of terrorism, he said investigations would be conducted to ascertain how the bomb made it inside the station.
The Railway Police IG said that walls had been erected, barbed wire and security lights placed around the station in the wake of the incident. He denied there had been threats or information about the blast. The IG confirmed that one of the dead was a Railway policeman. Rescue sources said that around 40 injured people, including 15 women and a child, were shifted to Mayo Hospital, Ganga Ram Hospital and Services Hospital. Eight of the injured are reported to be in critical condition.
A large number of police personnel arrived at the station after the blast. The explosion could not be captured on video as all the close-circuit TV cameras installed at the railway station have been out of order for over six months. It is worth mentioning that there were reports of a bomb being planted in a nearby area in the morning.
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has taken notice of the blast and ordered an immediate inquiry. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani condemned the blast, and ordered a detailed report of the incident. The president expressed his grief and shock over the loss of precious lives and injuries caused by the blast and said such cowardly acts of terrorism cannot dent the government?s resolve to fight and eliminate this menace. staff report/agencies
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