NAROWAL: Four children were killed and two others injured in an anti-tank mine explosion at Zafarwal on Sunday.

A team of the Rescue 1122 shifted the injured children to the DHQ hospital after providing first aid.

A group of children belonging to Skurur village in the suburbs of Zafarwal tehsil were playing with a box near the rainwater drain Dek when it exploded. Muhammad Mustafa, 12, Haider Nawaz, and Muhammad Saad, 10, died on the spot while 15-year-old Azhar Ali, 18-year-old Fayyaz Ali and eight-year-old Iman Fatima were seriously injured. The rescue teams reached from their posts at Zafarwal, Mangwal and Narowal.

District Emergency Officer Naeem Akhtar supervised the rescue operation as the team shifted the injured children to the rural health centre of Zafarwal after providing first aid. Among the injured, Fayyaz Ali succumbed to his injuries on way to hospital. Rescue 1122 also shifted the dead bodies of the children who died in the explosion to the local hospital. After giving first aid to the two children at the RHC, the doctors referred them to the DHQ hospital due to their critical condition.

A team of the Civil Defence’s Bomb Disposal Squad also reached the spot and recovered evidence and samples of improvised explosive devices. District Officer Asim Riaz Wahla said the children were collecting firewood near the rainwater drain. He said the children found a box which exploded. It was an Indian anti-tank mine, he added.

He said such mines were found from the rainwater drain a few days ago. He said the squad defused the anti-tank mines and seized these. He said information of anti-tank mine was also received near Deoli village near Zafarwal. He said officials defused the live anti-tank mine.

District Health Authority Chief Executive Officer Dr Khalid Javed said two children who were injured by anti-tank mines were being administered best possible treatment at the DHQ hospital. He said the condition of both the injured children was out of danger.

Deputy Commissioner Shahid Farid ordered the Bomb Disposal Squad to conduct a thorough search along the bank of the drain.

Meanwhile, people protested against the Indian Border Security Force (BSF). Qamar Ali, Sharafat Hussain and others blamed India for sending anti-tank mines and other explosive materials to Pakistan every year during the rainy season. They said the locals suffered many times in the past and demanded that the Pakistan government take measures to save lives.

Federal Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal condemned the anti-tank mine explosion. He expressed his condolences to the families of the children who had lost their lives.

The funeral prayers of the four children were led by Syed Saeed Al Hasan, a former provincial minister. DC Shahid Farid, Zafarwal Assistant Commissioner Arshad Wattoo, officers and soldiers of army and a number of locals attended the funeral prayers.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2022