LAHORE: At least 41 people were killed and 175 others wounded when two suspected suicide bombers struck the crowded shrine of Hazrat Data Gunj Buksh Thursday night, police said.
The blasts occurred hours after the Punjab government decided to crack down on banned militant outfits operating in Lahore and south Punjab.
The first suicide bomber detonated his explosives in a large underground room where devotees sleep and wash themselves before praying, said Khusro Pervez, the top government official in Lahore.
Minutes later, a second bomber detonated his explosives in a large yard upstairs as people tried to flee the first attack, he said.
The blasts partially damaged the outer walls of the shrine also.
Speaking to SAMAA, DCO Lahore Sajjad Bhutta termed the attacks as ‘suicidal’.
According to police, a large number of devotees were present at the shrine when blasts occurred, killing 41 people and injuring 175 others, 25 of them injured critically.
According to police, head of two alleged suicide bomber were recovered from the scene.
The injured were shifted to the hospitals while hospitals emergency wards turned full with the large numbers of injured people.
On the other hand, enraged people chanted anti-government slogans to protest poor security arrangements.
Meanwhile, the security of Bibi Pak Daman was also beefed up to avoid another untoward incident. SAMAA <input name="ctl00$ContentPlaceHolder1$UcNewsDetails_News1$hfNewsID" id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolder1_UcNewsDetails_News1_hfNewsID" value="22074" type="hidden">