94 Killed In Pakistan Explosion
Monday April 11, 1988
By Anwar Iqbal, Special to The Tribune
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — The capital city and the nearby Rawalpindi remain in panic Monday, 24 hours after explosions at an army ammunition dump spread death and devastation over dozens of square miles.
Government officials say 94 people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured.
However, unofficial sources say more than 200 people died and hundreds of seriously injured people are waiting for treatment at overcrowded hospitals.
The capital looked like a city at war. ``It`s the worst disaster we`ve ever had in Islamabad,`` said an emergency room doctor at the National Medical Institute as he directed ambulances with a bullhorn.
Panicky parents, some in bloodstained clothes, still hunted Monday for children missing since they ran out of schools. Rescue workers continued to hunt for bodies.
Khaqan Abbasi, a member of the Pakistani Parliament and close friend of President Mohammed Zia ul-Haq, was one of the dead. He was killed when his car was hit by shrapnel.
An apparently accidental fire at the ammunition dump about 10 a.m. Sunday, at the start of the Moslem work week, sent flames 500 feet into the sky and set off a continuous half-hour shower of anti aircraft missiles, grenades, mortars and shrapnel. Sporadic bursts continued for another half-hour, and fires burned through the night.
The destruction of life and property was spread in a 12-mile radius from the dump at the Ojri army camp, which lies between the capital city of 500,000 people and Rawalpindi, the army`s headquarters city, which has 1.4 million people.
Some missiles ripped though buildings and homes, causing instant fires, especially in the densely populated residential areas around the dump.
The thunderous explosions at the dump caused homes to tremble violently in both cities.
Streets were littered with exploded and unexploded ammunition and fragments of weapons. The army called for citizens to report any unexploded weapons.
Many of the unexploded rockets lying in open spaces were up to six feet long. The U.S. Defense Department sent a four-person bomb disposal squad from the Persian Gulf, where it had been searching for mines.
The Pakistani army`s weapons include U.S.-supplied antitank Cobra and Tow missiles and shoulder-fired antiaircraft Stinger missiles.
Fire and smoke filled the sky over the dump and over other places set ablaze by the missiles.
The smell of gunpowder permeated the atmosphere, which panicked people fleeing homes for safer places.
Many lives were lost in the confusion when people ran out of their homes and exposed themselves to flying shrapnel and projectiles.
Children ran out of their schools in panic.
Several children were still missing Monday morning. Parents went to mosques with descriptions of the youngsters, which were broadcast over the loudspeakers usually used to call Moslems to daily prayers.
One rocket struck the auditorium of the International School of Islamabad, where the pupils, mostly children of foreign diplomats, had sought refuge. The rocket started a fire but none of the children there were hurt, the school said.
One rocket landed just outside the U.S. Embassy compound in Islamabad, but there was no damage. None of the estimated 25,000 foreigners living in Islamabad was reported hurt.
``A mushroom-shaped huge ball of fire went up as missiles and bombs exploded. It looked like hell,`` said Ghulam Rasool, who was near the arsenal when the weapons blew up.
The army closed some roads passing through the blast areas, and the main road linking Islamabad with Rawalpindi was still closed Monday morning.
A missile hit Islamabad`s international airport but did not damage any planes there. All trains, buses and planes coming from other cities were stopped from entering Islamabad until Sunday evening.
Ambulances, fire trucks and police vehicles kept darting back and forth to severely affected neighborhoods to rescue the injured and remove the dead. Hospital emergency rooms were bloody scenes of chaos. Ambulances with sirens wailing shuttled in the wounded. Crowds, some arriving in buses, came to donate blood or inquire about loved ones.
A lieutenant at the Orji camp said there ``weren`t many casualties`` in the camp, but he would give no figures. Reporters were barred from entering the base.
The government announced three days of national mourning, during which flags will fly at half-staff and all official functions will be canceled.
``Our hearts are broken and our eyes are welled up,`` President Zia said in a statement from Kuwait, where he was to attend an Islamic summit. He said he would return immediately to Islamabad.
Prime Minister Mohammad Khan Junejo ordered a high-level investigation into the blast. Officials said the explosion was caused by a fire but they did not know how the fire started.
Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Wasim Sajjad told Parliament the arsenal explosion was accidental.
Islamabad was built during the 1960s to replace Karachi as Pakistan`s capital. In addition to government buildings, it contains about 85 foreign embassies and several offices of the United Nations and other international relief agencies.
94 Killed In Pakistan Explosion - Chicago Tribune
