A mysterious explosion outside a cardiac hospital left four people dead and scores of others injured while a canteen and the generator room of the hospital, a bank and an adjacent residence collapsed a couple of hours before dawn on Sunday.
A woman patient also died of cardiac arrest after the blast which was heard in the city as well as its suburban areas. Windowpanes, glasses, cars and motorcycles also damaged while Rescue 1122 recovered the bodies from the rubble after hectic efforts. Reportedly, a bomb that exploded just outside Siddique Sadiq Memorial Cardiac Hospital at Sheikhupura Road at about 3am rocked the city.
As a result, a building of MCB bank, a portion of adjacent residence, the generator room and canteen of the hospital caved in. The blast also broke windowpanes of scores of nearby houses. The collapse of the bank resulted instant death of 45-year-old security guard, Shahid Saleem, 30-year-old electrician, Muhammad Sohail, and17-year-old parking fee contractor Zahid Masih. A patient, Wakeela Bibi, died of cardiac arrest caused by the explosion.
The explosion destroyed two huge generators of the hospital along with power transformers. Rescue 1122 in charge, Ayaz Aslam, told this scribe that no explosive material had been found. He opined it was a gas pipelines explosion while an SNGPL team claimed that a pipeline explosion caused a heavy fire, but no fire erupted in this incident.
Siddique Sadiq Trust Chairman Sheikh Muhammad Nasim said that this charity hospital had suffered a loss of over Rs 10 million. He added all the patients had been shifted to other hospitals owing to suspension of gas and electricity supply.
