Blast outside Gaddafi Stadium
The blast took place at 9 PM Friday when a day-night match between
Pakistan and Zimbabwe was under way at the Gadaffi Stadium.
Lahore: Pakistan’s information minister Pervaiz Rashid has said the
blast that killed two people, including a police officer, near the
Gaddafi Stadium here was a suicide attack. The blast took place at 9 PM
Friday when a day-night match between Pakistan and Zimbabwe was
underway.”
An attempt to attack the Gaddafi Stadium was foiled by the gallantry
of a police official, who lost his life while trying to stop the
attacker near Kalma Chowk,” Rashid told GeoNews.
A police sub-inspector and a citizen were killed when a suicide
bomber blew himself up while riding on a rickshaw near Kalma Chowk,
hardly less than a kilometre from the Gaddafi Stadium.”The gas cylinder
fixed in the auto rickshaw was exploded. Two persons including a
policeman were killed in the blast. Forensic samples had been collected
from the site to determine the nature of the explosion,” Lahore police
chief Amin Wains said.Four policemen and a civilian were injured in the
attack.
The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital where the sub- inspector
and a civilian were pronounced dead.Soon after the blast the Pakistan
Cricket Board issued a statement, saying it was a “power transformer
blast” that was caused by malfunctioning.Police had cordoned off the
area and no one, including media, was allowed to enter the blast site.
Local electronic media had at first reported an explosion close to
Gaddafi stadium (on the claim of PCB) but later took any news about the
blast off air after it was claimed that the explosion was caused by an
electricity transformer in the area. Rashid praised the actions of
Pakistan Broadcasters Association for “covering up” the news while the
cricket match was underway.
More than 20,000 people were in the stadium and panic could cause
stampede, he said.However, the police have denied that the was a suicide
attack. This is the first tour of any international cricket team to
Pakistan since the attack on Sri Lankan Cricket Team by Taliban in March
2009 in Lahore’s Liberty Chowk (near Gaddafi Stadium) in which six
members of the visiting team were injured. |