Peshawar mosque blast claims 100 lives; death toll now stands at 100.
The rescue effort has been concluded, and there are currently 53 citizens being treated for injuries at the Lady Reading Hospital.
Tuesday, a day after a suicide bomber swept through a crowded mosque in a heavily defended region of the city, killing 100 people, predominantly policemen, grieving family members flocked to hospitals in Peshawar to search for their loved ones.
The incident in Peshawar’s Police Lines neighborhood was the deadliest in ten years and occurred at a time when police are increasingly the target of violence.
The elderly woman yelled, “My son, my child,” as she passed an ambulance carrying coffins and injured individuals being carried to a hospital emergency room.
After a 24-hour period following the explosion, the rescue and search efforts were concluded as rescuers cleared the wreckage from the destroyed mosque, according to Peshawar Division Commissioner Riaz Mehsud.
A provincial day of mourning had been declared by interim Chief Minister Muhammad Azam Khan.
On January 30, 2023, a woman reacts as she looks for her family in Peshawar following a suicide bombing at a mosque.
After the suicide bombing in Peshawar on January 30, 2023, a woman responds and begins looking for her family.
The blast, which destroyed the mosque’s upper story as hundreds of worshippers offered noon prayers, left at least 170 people injured.
According to a statement from Mohammad Asim, spokesman for the biggest hospital in the city, “100 bodies have been taken to Lady Reading Hospital.”
Asim said, 53 injured people were being treated at the LRH right now, with seven of them being admitted to the intensive care unit. More than 200 injured people, according to the Police Control Room, were transported to the LRH.
The heirs of the deceased have been given the martyred victims’ remains after they have been identified for burial.
The Police Lines district is a colonial-era, self-contained encampment in the heart of the city that houses middle- and lower-ranking police personnel and their families. According to the authorities, they do not know how the bomber was able to breach the military and police checkpoints leading into the district.
As they look for victims, rescuers clear the debris.
The mosque was recently constructed so that cops may pray without leaving the region due to security concerns in Peshawar. The bomber reportedly struck in the first row of the prayer hall, according to defence minister Khawaja Asif.
According to Muhammad Ijaz Khan, a Peshawar Capital City Police Officer (CCPO), the bomber set up his device just as hundreds of people were lining up for prayers.
It is being investigated how the attacker got past the high-level security perimeter and whether there was any inside assistance.
worst assault in ten years
Since the twin suicide bombings at the All Saints Church in September 2013, which were the bloodiest attack on Pakistan’s Christian minority, this attack is the deadliest to occur in Peshawar.
The provincial health department declared a medical emergency in the Peshawar area after the attack, urging all medical staff to stay on duty and making a call for blood donations.
A funeral for the 27 police officers and young men who lost their lives was held at the Peshawar Police Lines later on Monday. As the martyrs’ coffins were escorted to the police ground while draped in the national flag, a sharply dressed detachment of the police force saluted them.
The province administration declared a day of mourning, and the federal capital had also been placed on high alert, according to the Islamabad Police.
The assailant might have arrived in a “official vehicle.”
According to CCPO Khan, who spoke to Express News, it’s possible that the attacker arrived at the compound in a government car. He continued, “[The] CTD is looking into the case.
He claimed that due to the offices of more than eight units, including FRP, Special Security Unit (SSU), Elite Force, and CTD in the Peshawar Police Lines, 1,500 to 2,000 people arrive and depart every day.
The nature of the explosion will be understood after the rescue effort is through, Khan added, adding that the attacker “may have been already present in Police Lines.”
The Peshawar CCPO added that the mosque’s wall had also collapsed, resulting in more damage. Following the explosion, fire also caused damage to the hall. The mosque’s hall was older than the rest of it, which was brand-new.
