LAHORE, Nov 17: At least 20 people were injured, four of them seriously, when a locally made 1kg explosive device planted in a dustbin at a bus stand on Ferozpur Road went off on Friday, a day before the arrival of President Pervez Musharraf in the city. Earlier, police officers sparked a controversy by telling mediapersons at the site of the blast that a couple of people had been killed. But Punjab chief minister, talking to newsmen at the Services Hospital, denied the statement.
The blast, which took place near the Rescue 1122 headquarters at around 11:55am, created panic among commuters and passers-by and caused a traffic jam which lasted more than two hours.
A rickshaw, parked beside the dustbin, was damaged and its driver was among the injured.
"We were sitting in a Rescue 1122 vehicle parked behind the bus stand when around 11:55am the explosion took place. A number of people waiting for public transport fell unconscious and suffered multiple injuries," Rashid Ali, Rescue 1122 recovery vehicle operato, told this reporter.
He said 15 to 20 people were at the bus stand at the time. He said the Rescue 1122 staff responded within seconds, followed by five Edhi ambulances, four civil defence vehicles, bomb disposal Squad and police. "I was at my stall when I heard a big bang and fell on the ground unconscious," Saeed Aslam Khan, who sells caps and goggles, said at the hospital.
"I did not see any suspected person near the dustbin.”
Muhammad Nasir, a second-year student who also was injured, said: "I reached the bus stop from the Govt Science College to catch a Route 5 bus for Nishtar Colony. There were many students at the bus stand. Soon after the blast, Rescue 1122 rushed us to hospitals".
Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, Punjab Health Minister Dr Tahir Ali Javed and City District Nazim Main Amir Mehmood visited the hospital.
