Describing the aftermath of the attack, Kazim said unhurt worshipers went to help the injured.
People cry next to the coffins of their loved ones during funeral prayers, a day after a suicide attack at an imambargah in Islamabad. Photo: AFP
ISLAMABAD:
A worshiper at the Imambargah in Islamabad, where dozens of people died in a suicide blast on Friday, described an “extremely powerful” blast that devastated the building just after prayers began.
Muhammad Kazim, 52, told AFP that he arrived at the Imambargah Qasr-e-Khadijatul Kubra shortly after 1 p.m. on Friday and took his seat seven or eight rows from the imam.
“During the first salute of the Namaz (prayer ritual), we heard gunshots,” he told AFP outside the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital, where many injured people were taken for treatment.
“And while we were still in the inclined position, an explosion happened,” he said.
Kazim, originally from Gilgit-Baltistan and living in Islamabad, escaped unhurt but accompanied his injured friend to PIMS Hospital for treatment.
“It was not clear whether it was a suicide attack, but the explosion was extremely powerful and caused many casualties,” Kazim said.
“Debris fell from the roof and windows were broken,” he added. “When I came out, many bodies were scattered… Many people lost their lives.”
Another worshiper, Imran Mahmood, described a shootout between the bomber, a possible accomplice and members of the mosque’s volunteer security personnel.
“The suicide bomber was trying to advance, but one of our injured volunteers shot him from behind, hitting him in the thigh,” Mahmood, in his fifties, told AFP.
“He fell but got up. Another man who was with him opened fire on our volunteers,” he said, adding that the attacker “then jumped on the gate and detonated the explosives.”
Describing the aftermath of the attack, Kazim said unhurt worshipers came to the aid of the injured.
“People tried to help alone, carrying two or three bodies in the trunk of their vehicles, while the ambulances arrived about 20 to 25 minutes later,” he told AFP.
“Afterwards, no one was allowed to approach the mosque.”
Kazim, who has been performing Friday prayers at the mosque “for three or four weeks,” said security had been lax.
“I have never seen adequate security in place,” he told AFP.
“Volunteers manage security themselves, but they do not have the necessary equipment to do it effectively,” he said.
