94 KILLED IN PAKISTAN EXPLOSION

By Anwar Iqbal and Special to The Tribune

Chicago Tribune
•
Published: Apr 11, 1988 at 12:00 am

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 antiaircraft 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.