At least 32 bodies of the victims of Shah Noorani shrine blast were handed over to the heirs after medico-legal formalities at the Civil Hospital Karachi, here on Sunday. Identity of two deceased could not be ascertained till filing of this report.
Out of the dead, six people were from a single family of Karachi's Liqatabad No-5 area. They went to the Sufi Saint's Shrine to attend the ritual a day before the unfortunate incident. The bodies were received by heirs aimed touching scenes at CHK.
Rescue sources said 34 bodies and 41 injured were brought to CHK, while eight injured were moved to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) and six were admitted to Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.
A Civil Hospital official said 21 of the injured brought to the hospital were discharged after treatment, while 20 others were being treated at the health facility. Similarly, seven injured were discharged after treatment from JPMC.
According to Civil Hospital officials, the names of the 29 deceased, who were identified, are Ahsan Ali, Asma Akhtar, Muhammad Danish, Pervaiz, Zubaida, Ehsan, Noman Ehsan, Shehla, Aslam, Ali Raza, Abdul Rehman, Adnan, Imran, Khurram, Iqra, Umme-Farwa, Sher Bano, Lubna, Shahida, Samreen, Afroz, Akbar, Farhan, Babu, Allah Dinu, Muhammad Yaseem, Aqsa Raza, Tahir Raj and Komal Raj,
The relatives of the victims including women and children thronged CHK in search of their loved ones. But due to continuous 'notorious' VIP movement, most of them could not find or meet their dear ones under treated at Trauma Centre of the health facility.
Sources said the visit of VIPs created difficulties for doctors to provide smooth treatment to the patients. The security was on high alert around CHK as Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah, Corps Commander Karachi Lieutenant General Naveed Ahmad Mukhtar, DG Rangers Major General Bilal Akbar, Health Minister Dr Sikandar Mendhro, Health Secretary Usman Chachar, Karachi Commissioner and others paid separate visits to the hospital to inquire about the health of the injured.
Taking to media persons, Sindh CM said that some 34 dead bodies were brought to Trauma Centre CHK, of them 32 have been identified and handed over to their heirs.
"Doctors tried their best to save the lives of the injured but some were in quite critical condition and could not survive because of their late arrival in the hospital," he added.
He said the blast was a tragic and most of the victims belonged to the metropolis. He said he had declared emergency in major hospitals of the city including Civil and JPMC.
To a query he said: "we are working on capacity building. The government is going to appoint hundreds of doctors so that trauma center, Thar and other remote areas of the province could be provided with doctors and paramedical staff, besides allocating funds to establish forensic labs,"
Chairman Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Bilawal Bhutto Zardari condemned the blast.
"From schools to hospitals and mosques to Dargahs, terrorists are hitting at every innocent target and killing the people like hunters do to birds. Shah Noorani terrorist bomb blast shows that nation needs unity to fight the cancer of terrorism without any delinquency on any one's part," PPP Chairman stated in a statement.
He expressed deep shock at the loss of innocent lives and sympathised with those who lost their near and dear ones. "This is high time that all our energies should be directed towards the implementation of Nation Action Plan instead of immature approaches being adopted by some government functionaries who talk against terrorism less and target opposition leaders more," he added.
Majlis-e-Wahdat-ul-Muslimeen ( MWM ) chief Allama Raja Nasir Abbas said that the government failed to take action against terrorists in the country.
Speaking at a condolence reference to remember the victims of Hazrat Shah Noorani Shrine blast, he said that 'Takfiriat' had once again proven it's brutality by murdering peace loving people.
The only way to uproot the menace of terrorism is to implement the National Action Plan fully, he concluded.