KARACHI – On Monday Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah made the shocking disclosure that a ‘VVIP’ had taken police personnel along with him about half an hour before the blast at Lal Shehbaz Qalandar shrine.
Briefing the house regarding the tragedy that claimed over 80 lives, Murad did not name the individual, but confirmed that the VVIP in question was a non-political personality.
Murad said they did not have any ‘specific’ security threat for Sehwan although the provincial authorities should have been extra-vigilant especially after the blast at Shah Noorani shrine that claimed 52 lives.
The chief executive confirmed that the surveillance though CCTV cameras was hampered by load shedding for which he was not responsible.
He claimed that the suicide bomber behind the blast was identified despite the low resolution of cameras being energised through generators.
The lawmaker said that as many as 500 people were affected after the blast admitting that the availability of 500 ambulances in Sehwan area was not possible. He maintained that 8 ambulances were available in the area and they all reached the blast site within 15 minutes of the attack.
“I can’t have a thousand-bed hospital in Sehwan. We do not have the resources, but whatever resources were available they were mobilised,” he told the house.
Murad confirmed that 81 people were killed in the attack, of which 46 were men, 10 women and 25 children under the age of 15 whereas only three people remain unidentified.
