Lahore: At least 53 people, including children, were killed and dozens injured on Sunday as a powerful blast triggered by a suicide bomber ripped through a crowded public park in Pakistan's eastern city of Lahore, capital of Punjab province.
The explosion occurred at the Gulshan-e-Iqbal park in a posh locality near the city's centre.
Eyewitnesses said there were pools of blood and scattered body parts in the park, where a large number of families, especially women and children, were present on a Sunday evening.
Iqbal Town Superintendent of Police Muhammad Iqbal said that the explosion was a suicide attack.
The crowd was "unusually large" because of Easter, an eyewitness was quoted as saying by the Dawn. There was no security present in and around the park, the report said.
An emergency has been declared at all government hospitals in the city, and a heavy contingent of police has cordoned off the area.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the blast and offered his condolences to families of the deceased.
Heard about the blast in Lahore. I strongly condemn it. My condolences to families of the deceased & prayers with the injured: PM
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 27, 2016
"Strongly condemn Lahore blast; condolences to families of the deceased and prayers for the injured," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted on Sunday.
