Lahore: Suicide blasts at Data Darbar shrine, 40 killed

NDTV Correspondent, Updated: July 02, 2010 10:46 IST
Lahore: Two suicide bombers struck a popular shrine in Lahore, killing at least 40 people and wounding 175 in the second major attack in the city in a month.

The bombers attacked late on Thursday as thousands of people visited the Data Darbar shrine, where a famous Sufi saint is buried.

Security video showed the blasts scattering terrified worshippers as white plumes of smoke blanketed the area.

The first bomber detonated his explosives in a large underground room where visitors sleep and wash themselves before praying, said Khusro Pervez, the top government official in Lahore. The attack occurred as volunteers handed out food to people visiting the shrine, said Chaudary Mohammed Shafique, a senior police official.

Minutes later, a second bomber detonated his explosives upstairs in a large courtyard in front of the shrine as people tried to flee the first attack, said Pervez.

The blasts ripped concrete from the walls, twisted metal gates and left wires hanging from the ceiling, television footage showed. Blood stained the shrine's white marble floor.

"It was a horrible scene," said Mohammed Nasir a volunteer security guard at the shrine who was getting ready to pray when the first blast occurred. "There were dead bodies all around with blood and people were crying."

No group has so far claimed the responsibility for the attack.

Police initially said they were investigating the source of a third blast but concluded there were only two suicide bombers, whose heads were later found, said Pervez.

At least 25 of those wounded in the attacks were in critical condition, he said.

Demonstrators gathered outside the shrine in the hours after the bombings, protesting the security lapse. Police fired into the air and threw rocks to disperse the protesters. (With AP inputs)