LAHORE, Pakistan, March 27 (UPI) — An apparent suicide attack outside a public park in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore killed at least 60 people Sunday and injured more than 315.
Most of the injured and dead are women and children, Jam Sajjad Hussain, a spokesman for emergency service Rescue 1122 said, according to Sky News.
Eye witnesses said there were scattered body parts and pools of blood in the park, which was filled with a large number of families.
The park was reportedly packed with people, mostly women and children, due to a weekly holiday.
Haider Ashraf, director inspector general of operations, confirmed the explosion was a suicide attack.
An eyewitness, talking to Dawn newspaper in Pakistan, said there were dead bodies and injured people on the ground throughout the park. He said the injured were taken to hospitals on rishaws and in taxis.
One person said the crowd was unusually large because of Easter and the roads were jammed with lines of vehicles.
An emergency has been declared at all government hospitals in the city and a heavy contingent of police has cordoned off the area.
Early reports are that the explosion took place in a parking lot inside the park.
The country has had regular incidents of Taliban-related violence, sectarian strife and criminal gang activity, the BBC reported.
Lahore is the capital city of the province, Punjab, Pakistan’s largest and wealthiest province.
