LAKKI MARWAT – At least 95 people were killed and over 100 injured on Friday in a suicide blast in Shah Hasankhel village, some 25 kilometers away from Lakki city.
As many as 95 dead bodies besides over 100 injured persons were brought to Lakki city hospital, a police official and hospital sources told TheNation. “A suicide bomber hit his explosive-laden double door cabin against the wall of a playground where a volleyball match was in progress between two local teams”, eyewitnesses said.
They said that some houses around the playground were badly damaged and some of them also caught fire as result of powerful blast.
They said the dead bodies were scattered all around while the injured persons were rushed to the hospital.
“We made announcements on loudspeakers and called the residents of the nearby villages to reach for rescue operation and shift the wounded persons to the hospital”, a villager said, adding that the area people arranged transport facility to take the injured and the dead to hospital.
Later, police vehicles and ambulances also reached the site of explosion and started shifting the victims of suicide blast to the hospital”, eyewitnesses maintained.
“A meeting of Shah Hasankhel peace body was underway in a local mosque at a small distance from the playground when the explosion took place”, a member of peace committee told. He said that it was a huge explosion which badly damaged the doors and windows the of the mosque building.
“The broken pieces of doors and windows fell on us but all the members of the peace committee remained unhurt”, he added. “Smoke engulfed the whole village after the attack”, he further told. An official informed that two FC personnel and two police constables were also among the injured persons while two FRP cops also went missing. “At least ten injured persons were referred to Bannu in precarious condition.
A team of doctors from Bannu district also arrived in the city to assist the local physicians and paramedics to cope with the situation. The death toll may increase as the dead bodies were being brought to the hospital till the filing of this report.
Some of the deceased were identified as Abdul Manan, Muhibullah, Sanaullah, Ziaullah, Muhammad Ali, Fareedullah, Abdul Manan, Hayatullah, Abdul Qadus, Abdul Rehman and Muhammd Nawaz. Police and hospital officials were busy recording the names of the deceased and the injured persons.
APP adds: Meanwhile, the NWFP government announced compensation for the victims of deadly suicide explosion in a volleyball match in Lakki Marwat district.
The government announced Rs300,000 for each deceased and Rs100,000 for each injured.