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Booby-trapped bomb explosion in train |
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July 17, 2000
KARACHI (AP) - A bomb ripped through a crowded passenger train bound for the city of Karachi in southern Pakistan Sunday, killing 10 people and injuring 30 others, railway officials and doctors said. The train was pulling out of the station in Hyderabad, 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Karachi, when the bomb went off in a rear railway car, officials said. Troops promptly cordoned off the area. Railway officials said residents reacted quickly, rushing victims to a nearby hospital. No one claimed responsibility for the explosion, and police said they had no suspects. "It was an act of terrorism, but it is premature to say who was involved," said Hyderabad police superintendent Moazim Jah Anzari. "We are investigating." Four passengers died in the emergency ward of the hospital, railway workers said. Hospital officials said another four people died within an hour. Another two passengers died later of their injuries. Doctors said the number of injured also increased as passengers arrived at the hospital with minor injuries, many of them with cuts and bruises. There were still several passengers considered to be in serious condition, they said. The authorities were still trying to identify four of the dead, said the state-run news agency Associated Press of Pakistan.
The hospital also declared an emergency, putting out an appeal for blood donors and calling in additional staff to help treat the victims. "The train was just leaving when there was a huge bang, smoke everywhere and people screaming," said a passenger, who identified himself only as Azim. He was traveling with his sister and her two children in the passenger car carrying the explosive device. But the man only suffered cuts and bruises. The rear of the railway car was a tangled mess of twisted steel. In recent months, there have been several bombings in Pakistan. Most of the explosions have occurred in the eastern province of Punjab, the country's largest and most populous region. However, Karachi, Pakistan's largest city of 14 million people located on the Arabian Sea coast, also has been a target. Pakistani authorities have blamed many of the explosions on neighboring India, but the accusations have not been publicly backed by evidence. Pakistan and India routinely accuse each other of sabotage. The two countries have fought three wars since South Asia gained independence from Britain in 1947.
The southern province of Sindh, of which Karachi is the capital, also has been wracked by ethnically and religiously motivated violence. The ethnic combatants usually are members of the regional Muttahida Qami Movement, representing Indian Muslims who settled here in 1947, and indigenous Sindhis. There was some concern that the explosion may have been an act of protest against Saturday's conviction of Farooq Sattar, a leading MQM leader. Sattar was sentenced to 14 years in jail by a special anti-corruption court on a charge of corruption. He also was barred from holding political office for 21 years. The stiff penalty is part of a new law introduced by the army-led government after it seized power in a military coup last October. Pakistan has been wracked by bomb explosions in recent months. On some days more than one bomb exploded. In all 25 bombs have shattered this poor country of 140 million people since Jan. 1. Following is a list of bomb explosions throughout Pakistan this year:
Jan. 5, 2000 Hyderabad - A bomb ripped through a crowded market wounding 27 people. Jan. 17, Karachi - A time bomb went off at a bus stop killing eight people, wounding 31 others. Jan. 28, Karachi - Four people were wounded when a bomb went off outside a court building. Feb. 5, Hyderabad - A bomb explosion in a train killed eight people and wounded more than 40 others. Feb. 28, Karachi - A bomb exploded in a store, but there was no casualty. March 1, Narowal - Bomb explosion in a train wounds three people. March 28, Torkham - Seven people were killed and 16 others injures when a powerful bomb went off in a crowded market in this frontier town that borders Afghanistan. April 7, Lahore - Two bombs exploded in a hotel wounding 17 people. April 16, Rawalpindi - Six people, including two children, were wounded when a bomb exploded outside a park. April 20, Lahore - A bomb exploded outside the office of the rightwing Jamaat-e-Islami, or the Islamic Party. There was no casualty. May 5, Karachi - Two bombs exploded within minutes of each other, killing one person and wounding six others. May 9, Rawalpindi - A bomb explosion in a crowded market, killed a man and injured nine others. May 20, Rawalpindi - A time bomb went off in a congested neighborhood, wounding four people. June 11, Quetta - Three bombs exploded in a short span of time outside government buildings. There were no casualties. June 21, Rawalpindi - A powerful bomb exploded in a roadside hotel killing one man and wounding five others. July 7, Gujranwala - Two bombs exploded within hours of each other killing three people, including two children. July 16, Hyderabad - A bomb ripped through a crowded passenger train heading toward the southern port city of Karachi, killing eight people and wounding 25 others. |
