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News > World

At Least 65 Dead in Pakistan Attack, Mostly Women and Children

  • Rescuers and officials gather at a bomb blast site in Lahore March, 27, 2016.

    Rescuers and officials gather at a bomb blast site in Lahore March, 27, 2016. | Photo: Reuters

Published 27 March 2016
Opinion

Local authorities say the blast was a suicide attack with many women and children among the casualties. 

A suicide bomber killed at least 65 people and wounded more than 280 outside a public park in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Sunday, rescue officials and police said.

A bomber blew themselves up in the parking area of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, just outside the exit gate and a few meters away from children's swings.

"Most of the dead and injured are women and children." Mustansar Feroz, superintendent of police for the area, told Reuters.

Media footage showed children and women standing in pools of blood outside the park, crying and screaming. Images also showed rescue officials, police and bystanders carrying injured people to ambulances and private cars.

Dozens of women and children were seen being wheeled into hospitals, covered in blood. Many of the injured were transported to hospitals on taxis and auto-rickshaws due to a shortage of ambulances. Hundreds of citizens arrived outside hospitals to donate blood.

Local television channels reported that many of the dead bodies were being kept in hospital wards as morgues were overcrowded.

RELATED: Bomb on Bus Kills 15 Government Employees in Pakistan 

"We were just here to have a nice evening and enjoy the weather," Nasreen Bibi said at the Services Hospital, crying as she waited for doctors to update her on the condition of her two-year-old injured daughter.

"May God shower his wrath upon these attackers. What kind of people target little children in a park?"

The park was said to be busier than usual with Christians celebrating the Easter holidays.

The attack has yet to be claimed by any terror group or criminal organization.

Punjab has traditionally been more peaceful than other parts of Pakistan. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s opponents have accused him of tolerating militancy in return for peace in his province, a charge he strongly denies.

Last year, a bomb killed a popular Pakistani provincial minister and at least eight others when it destroyed the minister’s home in Punjab.

Rescue workers move a body from the site of a blast outside a public park in Lahore, Pakistan, March 27, 2016.| Reuters

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