Explosions occur in Lahore, Pakistan, at least 20 dead

Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

www.chinaview.cn 2008-03-11 12:46:11

ISLAMABAD, March 11 (Xinhua) --

Two explosions took place in eastern Pakistan on Tuesday morning, killing at least 20 people, local TV channel DAWN NEWS reported.

One explosion occurred near the Federal Investigation Agency ( FIA) Office on Mall Road in Lahore, capital city of the eastern Punjab province, said the report.

The explosion was triggered by some explosive devices planted in the FIA building and it was not a suicide blast, according to DAWN NEWS.

The building was badly damaged in the explosion and some vehicles parked outside the building were totally destroyed.

There were more than two hundred people working inside the seven-story building at the time of the blast.

An official of a rescue team was quoted as saying that at least18 people including 10 FIA employees were killed and around 100 others were injured.

Rescue teams are looking for survivors in the building and the injured are being sent to local hospitals.

Local media reported that 11 suspects were being questioned in the FIA building when the blast occurred.

The other bomb blast ripped through a building in Model Town in Lahore shortly after the FIA blast. Four people were feared killed and three others were injured.

The front of the building at a house in Model Town, which served as the office of an advertising agency, was totally destroyed in the explosion.

Two suicide bombers managed to enter the house and blew themselves up, killing two children in the house.

Police and Rescue teams have reached the spot and have started rescue operations.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and caretaker Prime Minister Mohammadmian Soomro strongly condemned the twin blasts in Lahore.

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