At least 72 people were killed in a suicide blast that took place in Lahore's crowded Gulshan-i-Iqbal park earlier this week. At least 300 others were injured. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Operations Dr Haider Ashraf said the death toll had risen to 72 overnight. In the wake of the attack, the Punjab government declared an emergency in Lahore and announced three days of mourning. Schools and markets were closed in the provincial capital on Monday. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar paid a visit to the injured admitted to Jinnah Hospital for treatment. PM Nawaz also chaired a meeting at Prime Minister House to review the security situation in Lahore. A First-Information Report was lodged by the Counter-Terrorism Department Lahore against four suspects under Section 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act and various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code. The FIR claims four suspicious individuals were stopped at the gate of the park, one of whom got into the park and blew himself up. The other three, taking advantage of the rush at the scene, were able to slip away, it says. Eye witnesses recalled pools of blood and scattered body parts spread across the site of the attack. Witnesses said they could hear children screaming as people carried the injured in their arms, while frantic relatives searched for loved ones in nightmarish scenes at the park near the centre of the city.
Here’s more on the dreadful tragedy
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