Pilgrims flee shrine bomb blast

Frightened pilgrims crammed into buses leaving a remote village in southwestern Pakistan today as relatives sifted for signs of loved ones killed in a brutal bombing.

The blast that killed at least 30 people at a Shiite Muslim shrine on Saturday night prompted anger and disbelief among the thousands who gathered for an annual festival that bridges sectarian and religious divides.

“Everyone comes here, even Hindus. There is no distinction here between a Shiite and a Sunni,” said the shrine’s caretaker, Syed Sadiq Shah. “God’s curse be on those who did this. They have killed innocent people.”

The blast caused a 2ft deep crater and a scene of bloody carnage – and added to security woes in restive Baluchistan province, hit last week by fighting between government forces and renegade tribesmen.

No-one claimed responsibility for the attack. Shoaib Nausherwani, Baluchistan’s home minister, said 30 people died and 20 were wounded. Shah put the death toll at 44.

A time bomb, packed with about 6.6lbs of explosive, went off among pilgrims as they took supper in an open area about 490ft from the shrine.

Most of them had travelled from other regions of Baluchistan or neighbouring Sindh province to mark the death anniversary of the 19th century Shiite saint whose tomb is inside the shrine. Up to 20,000 people had arrived over the weekend for the three-day event at Fatehpur, an arid village of about 50 mud brick homes. It lies about 500 miles southwest of the capital, Islamabad.

“We were busy serving food to the travellers. I went into the kitchen and there was a big blast like an earthquake,” recounted shrine worker Ghulam Mohammed. “When I came out there was blood everywhere and pieces of bodies.”

The scene was today still strewn with body parts, clothes, and shoes as people searched for signs of missing relatives. Others congregated at a hospital in a nearby town where most of the bodies were collected during the day for burial. Ten bodies remained.

Baluchistan police chief Chaudhry Mohammed Yaqoob, however, said that a dispute within the family of the shrine caretaker Shah over control of the shrine and property could have been behind the attack – a claim Shah disputed.

There was no indication the bombing was linked to the tribal rebellion in Baluchistan that has intensified in recent days when fighting broke out between government forces and tribesmen at Dera Bugti, a town about 90 miles northeast of Fatehpur.