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The death toll of the suicide blast that hit a public park in Pakistan’s eastern major city of Lahore on Sunday evening has risen to 72, officials said on Monday.
The explosion took place in the parking area of Gulshan Iqbal Park, just a few feet away from some children’s swings.
The area was crowded at the time because Christians were gathering to celebrate the Easter holiday.
The Taliban faction Jamaat-ul-Ahrar said it carried out the attack, adding that it was targeting Pakistan’s Christian minority.
Many families were leaving the park when the blast happened.
Muhammad Usman, an administration official in Lahore, said more than 50 children were among the injured.
Eyewitnesses said they saw body parts strewn across the car park in the wake of the attack.
Television footage shows children and women crying as rescue officials, police and bystanders carry the injured to ambulances.
Javed Ali, a 35-year-old resident who lives opposite the park, said the force of the blast shattered his home’s windows.
“Everything was shaking – there were cries and dust everywhere,” he said.
“After 10 minutes I went outside. There was human flesh on the walls of our house. People were crying, I could hear ambulances.”
Superintendent Mustansar Feroz said most of the dead are women and children.
Lahore is the capital of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s political heartland of Punjab, the biggest and wealthiest province in Pakistan.
The country is currently battling a Taliban insurgency, criminal gangs and sectarian violence.
Agencies/Canadajournal
