Three people, including a 6-year-old boy, were killed and more than twenty left wounded in a blast outside a house in Lahore’s Johar Town area on Wednesday (today).
Speaking to the media after the Lahore Johar Town blast, Punjab IG Inam Ghani confirmed that it was a bomb blast.
“A bomb planted in a car went off. The vehicle cannot reach its target due to police barriers,” he said. “The police were the target of the bomb blast.”
The provincial police chief said ball-bearings driven by the blast hit the injured, adding the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) had previously traced such cases and will also investigate this incident thoroughly.
“The provincial police had received 65 threat alerts,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Lahore CCPO Ghulam Mehmood Dogar said that the injured were immediately shifted to Jinnah Hospital. “The nature of the blast is being determined,” he said.
He also commanded officials to keep citizens away from the site of the blast so that there is no barrier in carrying out rescue and relief efforts.
Also, Punjab Health Minister Yasmin Rashid has arrived at Jinnah Hospital to witness the injured.
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She told that several injured are currently in critical condition and the death toll may rise.
According to police, the explosion was heard far and wide and was so powerful that the windowpanes of nearby buildings were smashed.
A rickshaw and motorcycles parked nearby were completely destroyed by the blast, the police said.
On the other hand, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar took notice of the blast and ordered the IG to examine the incident and submit a report.
“Those responsible for the blast should be brought under the law,” said Buzdar.
He told authorities to provide the best medical facilities to those who were injured. He also told the additional IG CTD to reach the scene of the explosion.
