Explosion at Park in Lahore, Pakistan, Kills Dozens

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Dozens of people, including children, were killed and at least 100 people were wounded in an apparent suicide blast in a park in Lahore, Pakistan.

By REUTERS on Publish Date March 27, 2016. Photo by Arif Ali/Agence France-Presse Getty Images. Watch in Times Video

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan A powerful blast ripped through a public park in the eastern city of Lahore on Sunday evening, killing at least 40 people and wounding at least 100, including women and children, rescue workers and officials said.

The blast, apparently caused by a suicide bomber, occurred in a parking lot at Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park, one of the largest parks in Lahore, the capital of Punjab Province, said Haider Ashraf, a senior police official in Lahore.

The park is frequented both by residents and visitors to the city, and is popular with families.

It was a soft target. Innocent women and children and visitors from other cities have been targeted, Mr. Ashraf said. Apparently, it seems like a suicide attack.

Photo Pakistani rescue workers used a stretcher to move a victim from the site of an explosion in Lahore on Sunday. Credit Arif Ali/Agence France-Presse Getty Images

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. It coincided with violence in other parts of the country as hundreds of protesters took to the streets, condemning the execution of Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri, who killed Salmaan Taseer, a governor who had campaigned for changes in the countrys blasphemy laws.

Protesters clashed throughout the day with police officers in Islamabad, the countrys capital, marching on the main avenues of the city and trying to force their way into the Red Zone, a high-security area that includes the Parliament building, the Supreme Court and many diplomatic missions. The police used tear gas to disperse the protesters, but appeared to be overwhelmed by their numbers.

A state of emergency was imposed on hospitals in Lahore after the blast. Television footage on private networks broadcast images of rescue workers and ambulances rushing to the park and ferrying victims to hospitals. Distraught relatives milled about in hospital corridors as the wounded were treated.

There was no prior intelligence report about the attack, Muhammad Usman, the district coordination officer in Lahore, told reporters.

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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/28/world/asia/explosion-lahore-pakistan-park.html