Bomber hits N-facility bus

SHAHID RAO AND DANISH HUSSAIN
RAWALPINDI - The suicide bomber was killed and 37 others were injured, when a suicide attacker rammed his
motorcycle into the bus, carrying employees of sensitive government organization, at Chuhar Chowk here on
Thursday.
However, some eyewitnesses and sources disclosed that six persons lost their lives in the attack on the bus
carrying workers to nuclear facility, Khan Research Laboratories (KRL).
It is, however, ironic to mention that there are conflicting reports about the death toll involved in the incident. The
government officials in their initial statements said that 5 persons had been killed as a result of the incident.
Later, they officially released a different version and said that only the suicide bomber had been killed in the
attack.
According to the eyewitnesses the bomber aged between 20 and 25 years, wearing light beard was waiting for
his target on the adjacent link road and when Chuhar Chowk signal turned red he rammed his vehicle into the
KRL bus bearing registration number RPT 9535.
The bus was taking the employees of the sensitive government organization, coming from Golra Morr and
heading for Katcheri Chowk and according to the officials some 30 employees were on board the bus.
Earlier, first the high-ups of police officials confirmed the death toll from five to six but later changing their stance
they informed the media men that nobody died in the incident.
In the attack on the bus, 37 people were injured in the incident, which took place at about 4:25pm. While 29
injured were shifted to District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ), six injured were shifted to Military Hospital (MH).
Three injured admitted in DHO were stated to be in a critical condition.
There was everywhere blood, broken windowpanes of the vehicles and smell of diesel on the spot. Intensity of
the blast tore the motorbike into pieces, which were later collected by police officials.
An eyewitness and driver of a cab, Jamil Akhtar resident of Sawan Camp, who was some 25 yards away from
the blast site said, “The explosion sent a shaft of black light and dust into the sky, and I fell unconscious, but
afterward, when I recovered my senses there was blood everywhere and a dizzy smell of diesel and explosives
was there in the air. Later the emergency workers recovered me through the wreckage of my cab.”
The bomber rammed his bike on the left side of the vehicle, which badly damaged the exit gate area of the bus.
“Because of the height of the bus the bomber did not succeed to commit destruction on a large scale,” a police
official said.
RPO Nasir Khan Durrani giving the details of the attack said that a bomber riding a motorbike rammed into the