LAHORE - The metro bus service and other public and private traffic remained suspended for hours at Ferozepur Road and adjacent arteries of the city, following the twin blasts outside churches in Yohanaabad.
The suicide bombing took lives of 15 innocent people and brought injuries to more than 70. The incident sparked anger among the Christian community housing in the area and they blocked the road and damaged the public and private property on Ferozpur Road including the metro track and buses at various points from General Hospital to Yohanaabad. Thousands of commuters travel through the multi-billion metro bus service on daily basis at subsidized rate from Gujju Mata to Shahdara.
An official of the Metro Bus Authority said that the protestors damaged the track at Youhanabad, Nishtar Attari Darbar, Kamahan, Ammar Sadhu and General Hospital stations and that the authority was estimating the damage cost.
He said that the bus service was initially operational between General Hospital and Shahdara, but later on it was suspended.
It is likely that the service would also remain suspended on Monday too; he said and added that the decision would be taken after considering the situation.
The protestors also damaged the private vehicles and other transport and property in the area after the blasts. Ferozepur Road is considered to be the busiest route in the city and the suspension of traffic on this route caused huge load on other tracks. The commuters face severe difficulty in moving due to suspension of transport at the route as the city is facing shortage of transport to meet the need of millions of commuters.