July 20, 2007	Friday	Rajab 04, 1428

ISLAMABAD, July 19: As many as 20 diehard workers and office- bearers of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), who were seriously injured in the Tuesday’s blast outside the district courts, are undergoing treatment at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Scie-

nces (Pims), where the cond-ition of three is stated to be critical.

Among the injured, the condition of Dr Israr Shah, Abdul Majeed Niazi and Iftikhar is said to be very serious and the doctors have put them on ventilators. Most of them received severe burn injuries.

These PPP workers, most of them women, were injured when a powerful blast rocked the PPP’s camp, which had been set up to receive Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.

Among those killed included the general secretary of the PPP’s women’s wing, Ismat Jabeen. Others killed were: Rasheeda Bibi, Sajida

Satti, Tariq Abbasi, Tariq Masih, Rana Idrees, Veer Bibi and Seemab.

Dr Israr Shah has lost both his legs. He has been associated with the PPP since his student days and was arrested several times.

President of PPP women’s wing Islamabad, Nargis Faiz Malik, is also among those injured seriously but the doctors have declared her out of danger now.

Sidra Shakeel, the president of the party’s women’s wing in G- 10/4 sector, is also among the injured, but her condition is improving fast.

Shahnaz Durrani, who had joined the party a year ago, after quitting the PML, has also received burn injuries. She is president of the party’s G-9/2 women’s wing.

Mansha Bukhari, the finance secretary of the women’s wing, has undergone a major surgery but the doctors have said her condition is now stable.

Other injured party activists admitted in surgical and medical wards, are: Raja Omar, Mohammad Rasheed, Mohammad Sadiq, Ijaz Boby, Shah Rehman, Sajjad Hussain Shah, Mrs Anwar, Mohammad Imran, Hanif Anwer, Rubina Afzal, Jiyada Begum, Faisal Mehdi, Irfan and Sultan.

Meanwhile, on the directive of PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto, the party has set up an emergency information centre at the party’s central secretariat to assist the families of workers who were killed or injured in the blast.