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Most of Tuesday blast victims were from Parachinar

Hospital record shows 60 injured belong to Kurram Agency By Waseem Ahmad Shah 2014-02-06
PESHAWAR: Abdullah Jan, a 75-year-old retried army man who came to Peshawar for treatment of heart ailment, did not know he would land in a major hospital with a broken leg and other injuries. He received injuries in the suicide blast targeting a restaurant near an Imambargah here on Tuesday night.

Now lying on a bed of the orthopedic ward in Lady Reading Hospital, Mr Jan said that after visiting the doctor at a private hospital in Hayatabad Township he came to the restaurant for dinner when the blast occurred.

`First I thought that the ceiling fan had hit my head, but after some time I realised that it was a bomb blast.

Pieces of broken furniture and crockery were strewn all over the place amid pools of blood,` he said.

Several of the injured persons admitted to LRH shared the same story as they had come from Parachinar (Kurram Agency), around 250km from Peshawar, to see doctors for treatment of different ailments. They said that health facilities in Parachinar were not up to the mark due to which they mostly come to Peshawar for treatment.

Some of the injured witnesses claimed that the suicide bomber, who was apparently a teenager, blew himself up at the entrance of restaurant, located opposite to Imambargah Alamdar in a narrow alley at Koocha Risaldar, a congested city locality near Qissa Khwani Bazaar. The restaurant is on ground floor of Pak Hotel, established in 1975, where visitors from Parachinar usually stay.

The hospital record shows that seven of the nine bodies were identified and they belonged to Parachinar.

Similarly, except one all the 61 injured persons belong to Parachinar.

Abdullah Jan, who received injuries after several shrapnel and ball-bearings hit him, said he had re-mained a member of the Special Services Group in Pakistan Army till 1981 and served the country with devotion. Mr Jan could not spot the bomber as he was sitting in a corner having his back towards the entrance.

`I was suffering from throat and chest infection and came to consult a physiclan at a private hospital in Hayatabad. I was staying at Pak Hotel and after seeing the doctor I came to the restaurant to have a cup of tea with a friend, who also received injuries in the attack, said Rajab Ali, who has received injuries on his arms and legs and was lying on a hospital bed next to Mr Jan.

Mr Ali,65, is running a shop in Parachinar. He said that he was holding a cup of tea when he caught a glimpse of the bomber, who was engaged in arguments with a staffer of the restaurant at the entrance. `Soon I heard a loud explosion and fell unconscious for sometime. When I regained senses I was in pain and saw injured people scattered all around,` he said.

An 11-year-old injured boy, Mahim Hussain, said that he had come along with his father and grandmother to Peshawar in the morning for treatment of the latter.

Early Wednesday, staffers of the hotel and other people were busy in removing debris of damaged items at Koocha Risaldar. Some plumbers were repairing water supply pipes damaged in the blast.

The entrance of the restaurant was covered with tents whereas opposite to it some labourers were repairing gate of the Imambargah.

The residents there said that they had on several occasions asked the administration to allow them erect small gates at the entrance of around 100 metres long street due to security reasons.

They said that before 10th of Muharram the local police had sent a letter to the hotel asking its management to make its own security arrangements.

However, at the same time the government has not been providing arms permits to them so that armed guards could be deputed there.

`The visitors are mostly from Parachinar, majority of them patients or traders, said Kamdar Hussain, a retired army official now running the hotel.