January 17, 2008	Thursday	Muharram 07, 1429

KARACHI, Jan 16: Judges, lawyers, court staff and litigants were on Wednesday afternoon shocked to see ambulances converging on the Sindh High Court building, well after court timings.

Edhi and Chhipa ambulances were the first to arrive at about 2.20pm. They were stopped at the gate by the security staff, who were mystified to hear from the ambulance drivers and staff that they had come to remove casualties from a bomb blast reported to have occurred on the court premises. Large Red Crescent ambulances with flashing red lights and blaring sirens followed and went straight into the court compound.

Simultaneously, lawyers and other people in the building started receiving telephone calls from relatives and friends, inquiring about their well-being. The callers said that a number of private television channels were breaking ‘news’, first described as a ‘rumour’, that a bomb had exploded at or near the court premises. An earlier report had said that the premises had been scanned for a bomb and that a disposal squad had got the various blocks vacated.

While many of the court employees, citizens and lawyers rushed back home, there was no bomb scare or panic. Television reporters and cameramen arriving at the scene were equally surprised to find a calm atmosphere at a venue described as having been the scene of a bomb blast.

Hoax call triggers airport panic

Meanwhile, a bomb scare near a hotel at the Quaid-i-Azam International Airport’s old terminal created panic amongst staff and passengers on Wednesday afternoon, adds PPI.

According to an official of the airport police station, a man called the airport police at 2.45pm and said that a bomb had been planted in the Mercury Hotel near the airport’s terminal 1. The official said that the caller had introduced himself as ‘Faisal’ and that he could not be traced since the police station’s telephone set had no CLI facility.

A bomb disposal squad rushed to the area and vacated the hotel building, while police officials, the fire brigade and a number of ambulances were summoned.

After the bomb disposal squad had spent hours searching and sweeping the building, it became evident that the bomb threat had been a hoax call.