October 21, 2003	Tuesday	Sha'aban 24, 1424

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QUETTA, Oct 20: The city was rocked on Monday evening by three powerful explosions which occurred with brief intervals in different areas of Quetta.

A 10-year-old boy was slightly injured in the third blast which had taken place near a house in Shahbaz town area, police said.

The first blast occurred at around 7.55pm near the official bungalow of the divisional superintendent of Pakistan Railways at Colvin Road. An explosive device was planted under a tree, which went off with a big bang and damaged the boundary wall of the house.

Windowpanes of various nearby buildings including some newspaper offices were also smashed in the blast.

The second explosion occurred at about 8pm, only 400 yards away from the official railways bungalow, when the police and bomb disposal staff were busy in investigating the first incident. But no damage or loss of life was reported in this blast.

The third explosion took place near the house of an importer and exporter of Chaman, Haji Ghulam Rasool, at 8.20pm. This blast badly damaged the windows and doors of the house and slightly injured Noor Ali, 10.

The house inmates were having dinner when an explosive device planted in the flower bed outside the house exploded.

“God saved all the family members who were having dinner in a room close to the blast site,” a young man, Wali, said.

Bomb disposal squad director Akbar Ali told this reporter: “Home-made explosive devices were used in all the three explosions.”