LAHORE: Two electricians who were planning to move abroad within a couple of days for earning a better livelihood didn’t know death was waiting for them at a travel agent’s office near the blast site on Tuesday.

“Accompanied by our eldest son, my husband promised children to come as soon as possible when he left home in the morning to collect his travel documents,” sobbing Ms Waqar, wife of one of the electricians, told Dawn, while his teenaged son was trying to console her at the Mayo Hospital mortuary.

Her minor daughter would roam about for some time in the small lawn of the mortuary before returning to the family that was waiting there to get the body of Waqar, one of the victims of a suicide attack outside Qila Gujjar Singh Police Lines.

Know more: Eight dead in attack on Lahore's Police Lines, TTP claims responsibility

Waqar was the sole breadwinner of the family comprising eight members, including four daughters and two sons.

“I got a call from a policeman who said Waqar is no more and that my son Abdul Haseeb is struggling for his life in the hospital,” said Ms Waqar before breaking into tears again.

Mohammad Abbas, 22, had also gone to collect his travel documents from the agent’s office.

His brother Ishfaq said he was watching television when he received a phone call from police that his brother had been killed in the blast near the Police Lines. He said that he was asked to approach the dead house for identification of his brother’s body.

Ishfaq said he could vividly remember the moment when his brother left home to collect his travel documents because he had secured a job as an electrician in Saudi Arabia.

Trying to control his emotions, he said no one could understand their plight, adding that he only wanted to know “why my younger brother was killed”.

“We were hoping Abbas would end our financial worries by working hard in Saudi Arabia,” he added.

Rana Dilshad, brother of Sub-Inspector Rana Yousaf, one of the blast victims, said his elder brother had been suspended from service two days ago while he was manning Begum Kot police check post. He said Yousaf went to mark his attendance at the Police Lines and became a victim to the suicide attack. The deceased had seven children -- six daughters and a son.

Meanwhile, the bodies of two other victims -- Constable Amjad Ali and an unidentified man -- were also shifted to the morgue for autopsy.

Published in Dawn February 18th , 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play