LAHORE - At least four people died and over a dozen others injured in a bomb explosion in Lahore’s Johar Town neighbourhood early Wednesday. The explosion took place in BOR housing society located near Allah Hu Chowk, rescue workers said.

A police spokesman quoting Lahore police chief Ghulam Mehmood Dogar said that three people were killed in the bomb blast. He said that 20 injured were immediately shifted to the Jinnah Hospital.

Punjab Police Inspector General Inam Ghani, after visiting the crime scene, told reporters that the explosion took place near the residence of Hafiz Saeed, chief and founder of the banned Jamatud Dawa (JuD). The police chief said that police guards were on duty outside Saeed’s house at the time of the attack. As a result, some policemen were also wounded.

The blast shattered the windows and walls of Hafiz Saeed’s house and several nearby residences. Several cars and bikes were also damaged in the blast.

Punjab’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has launched the investigation into the terror attack. The CTD will determine whether it was a suicide blast or if a device was used, an official said.

Huge amount of explosive material detonated in a vehicle near Hafiz Saeed’s residence: Police

According to police sources, the blast occurred at a police picket outside the Lahore residence of Hafiz Saeed. Police and bomb disposal teams reached the site of the incident soon after the explosion and started rescue operations.

 

Those injured in the blast were shifted to Lahore’s Jinnah Hospital via private cars and auto-rickshaws, a rescue official said. Six of the victims are said to be in critical condition.

 

An eye witness said the intensity of the blast was such that the glass windows of nearby houses and buildings were shattered. A few buildings at the site of the incident were also damaged in the blast.

 

Several photos and videos of the blast in Lahore were shared on social media. The exact nature of the blast, however, has not been ascertained yet.

 

 

Two of the dead were identified by police as Abdul Khaliq, 30, and his son Abdul Haq, 5. The police were yet to ascertain identify of the third victim.

 

Those injured are identified as Abdul Malik, Ambreen, Maham Azhar, Umme Rubab, Moqadus Shahid, Abdul Qalam, Hassan Muhammad Ali, Liaquat Ali, Nasir, Muhammad Umer, Safia, Muhammad Atif,

Abdul Raheem, Rimshah Jawaid, Muhammad Intizar, Tahir and three others. Soon after the explosion, police and Rescue-1122 teams rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to the Jinnah Hospital while rescuers also provided first aid to six others on the spot.

 

CCPO Ghulam Mehmood Dogar, DC Muddasar Riaz Malik, CTO Muntazir Mehdi, administrative

and Rangers officials reached the spot.

 

The nature of blast could not be ascertained, however, all security agencies were investigating.

 

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar took notice of the blast and directed the IG to investigate

the incident and submit a report. He ordered that responsible should be brought under the law.

He ordered the authorities concerned to provide the best medical facilities to the injured.

 

A first information report (FIR) was registered under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code, Anti-Terrorism Act and Explosive Substance Act against unknown persons at the CTD police station in Lahore.

The FIR stated that some officers of the CTD were present near Jinnah Hospital during a search for members of a proscribed organisation when they heard a loud explosion from the Johar Town area.

“The blast was so strong that a deep hole had formed at the site of the explosion and the doors and windows of nearby houses had been broken and the cars parked nearby had been damaged,” the FIR said.

“It was found (through initial investigation) that a big amount of explosive material was detonated in a vehicle,” it added. According to the FIR, 24 people were injured in the explosion.