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Schoolchildren injured in Thall bombing seek help

Posted on: Mon March 08, 2010

PESHAWAR: Six schoolchildren injured in the Friday s suicide bombing targeting a Parachinar-bound passengers convoy in Thall Tehsil of Hangu district are undergoing treatment in two hospitals of Peshawar.

A total of 15 persons, including five women, were killed and dozens of others, including 15 minors injured when a 17-year-old suicide bomber rammed his pushcart into the convoy comprising eight vehicles in Tandoro village near Thall on the main road while it was heading for Kurram Agency.

Besides the occupants of the vehicles in the convoy, several passers-by were killed and injured in the incident.Majority of the injured were either minors or teenaged students as most of them after attending their school were heading for homes when caught in the devastating incident.

13-year-old Liaqat is a student of Grade-7 who suffered multiple injuries as he was walking on the roadside when the bomber struck. Mudasir Shah, attendant of the injured child, said the family had not informed the father of the minor, who is abroad, fearing that he would be traumatised after knowing about the tragedy that befell his only son.

Mudasir Shah said the injured children were referred to Peshawar for proper treatment, as the hospitals in Thall and Hangu were not properly equipped. He was thankful to the NWFP government for arranging a helicopter for airlifting the injured students to Peshawar and getting them admitted to the Surgical-C ward of the Lady Reading Hospital.

In the same ward two other students identified as Hussain Ahmad, 18, a student of intermediate and Farooq, a student of grade-8 were writhing in pain.

In the pediatrics ward of the LRH, 10-year-old Khadeja, a grade-2 student, was lying unconscious as she was shifted to the ward after undergoing a surgery for her serious injuries to the abdomen. Her mother Gulnaz Bibi was continuously weeping and cursing the perpetrators of the blast. Her minor brother, Abu Bakr, also sustained injuries and he was being provided treatment at a hospital in Hangu.

Two other minors were referred to Khyber College of Dentistry (KCD) as their jaws had been broken. They included Suleman, 12, a class-5 student, and Shams Rahim, 14, a student of grade-8. Father of Suleman is a labourer in Karachi while Shams Rahim s father is in Gulf. The attendants of both the students told The News that no free treatment was provided to them at the KCD. They appealed to NWFP chief minister and governor Owais Ahmad Ghani to order relief to save the lives of the two minors.

Courtesy : The News