LAHORE - A woman was killed while four other persons were injured, one of them critically, when explosive material planted in an official vehicle parked in the Gazetted Officers Residences (GOR-II) Colony suddenly went off with a bang on Wednesday morning. The official vehicle was a double cabin pick-up earlier used by the Government Fisheries department. It was stolen on November 19 last month and a theft case was registered by Manwan police. The blast was quite powerful and it damaged windowpanes and parts of nearby houses. The pieces of the vehicle were scattered many yards away from the blast site. The vehicle was parked in front of the house of Assistant Medical Superintendent (AMS) Punjab Institute of Cardiology (PIC) Dr Hamid Mahmood. Farzana Bibi, 24, who was sitting in the park some yards away from the incident scene along with her husband Sanawar Masih and three children was killed in the blast. The victim family was taking breakfast in the park. The children, however, escaped unhurt as they were playing away from the blast site. The deceased Farzana had come from Sialkot to receive at the Lahore Airport her husband who had returned from Dubai. They all had come to meet their relatives residing in GOR. Three other passers-by injured in the blast were identified as Muhammad Arif, 60, Muhammad Iftikhar, 35, and 25-year-old Pervez Iqbal. Police investigators, the bomb disposal squad, Rescue 1122, Edhi ambulances and officials of other rescue agencies immediately rushed to the spot when a resident of the same colony Attif Raza informed them about the incident. The bomb squad officials collected pieces of the exploded material from the site. A part of the vehicle was also recovered from the roof of a nearby house. The police investigators found no crater at the site, saying that the explosive material was perhaps planted on the upper portion of the vehicle. GOR-II is a peaceful and secluded area away from other city areas. Panic gripped the area and resident left their houses in fear. Some of them rushed to the site to know about the details of the incident. The explosion took place at 9:15 am, normally the time when the officers leave for their offices. "The first idea that came to my mind was this that it was a transformer blast", Syed Attif Raza, an eyewitness told this scribe. "When I went out I saw a vehicle completely damaged and four people including a woman lying in a pool of blood," he said. The injured were crying for help, Attif said, adding that he immediately sought for other locals help. Before arrival of the rescuers, local residents reached the spot and rushed the woman and other injured people to the dispensary in the GOR locality for first aid where the on-duty dispenser pronounced the woman dead and provided treatment to the others. The Rescue 1122 ambulances later shifted the injured including the woman to the Services Hospital where doctors confirmed the death of Farzana Bibi. Riasat Pervez, another eyewitness, painter by profession, said that he was waiting for his contractor along side the road of GOR when he heard a powerful blast. The blast was heard some three to four kilometers away from the crime scene. "As soon as the blast occurred, I witnessed a vehicle flying in the air. As there were strong rumours of war between Pakistan and India, I thought that perhaps the neighbouring country has attacked our country and fired a missile which hit the GOR," Riasat said. Later I realised that it was a blast in a car which almost shattered everything. Muhammad Latif, a government employee and a resident of GOR said that he was sitting on a bed along with his children when they all suddenly took a long jump in the air due to the impact of a powerful blast that took place some yards away from his house. Thinking that India has attacked Pakistan, his wife asked him to leave Lahore and go to other peaceful place to avoid any mishap. He said that some minutes later he heard hue and cry in his neighbourhood and came to know about a blast in a car. A bomb disposal official told the newsmen that at least 7 to 8 kg explosive material was planted in the official vehicle. The said vehicle was being used with fake registration number (LHO-2513) which was of an official vehicle, being used by an Xen Wapda. Engine and chasses numbers of the double cabin pick-up were recorded by the Excise Department, showing that the said vehicle is owned by Fisheries department. The police investigators also recovered some official documents from the vehicle that showed that the vehicle had remained under the use of Deputy Director Fisheries Department Dr Akhtar Ali Shah. Lytton Road police have registered a case against the unknown terrorists and sent the body of Farzana to the city morgue for autopsy.