Tag Archives: Deadly

Blast kills at least 13 in Pakistani city of Lahore, 83 injured

Police and rescue workers work at the scene of a blast in Lahore, Pakista

By Mubasher Bukhari

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) – An explosion near the Punjab provincial assembly in the Pakistani city of Lahore killed at least 13 people and wounded 83 others on Monday, a senior police official said.

Mushtaq Sukhera, inspector general of police in Punjab province, said five police officers were among the dead when an explosion rocked a protest organized by Pakistan’s chemists and pharmaceuticals manufacturers.

“It was a suicide attack. The bomber exploded himself when successful negotiations were underway between police officials and the protesters,” Sukhera told reporters.

A spokesman for Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, called Reuters and claimed responsibility.

The militant group also warned the Lahore attack was the start of a new campaign against government departments. “You are on our target across the country,” it added in a statement.

Jamaat-ur-Ahrar had also claimed responsibility for an Easter Day bombing in Lahore last year that killed more than 70 people in a public park.

Security in Pakistan has vastly improved in recent years but Islamist groups such as the Pakistani Taliban and Islamic State still pose a threat and have carried out mass attacks.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the attacks will not weaken Pakistan’s resolve in fight against militancy.

“We have fought this fight against the terrorists among us, and will continue to fight it until we liberate our people of this cancer, and avenge those who have laid down their lives for us,” he said in a statement.

The latest blast may jeopardize plans by Pakistan, a cricket-obsessed nation, to host the final of its domestic Twenty20 tournament on home soil in Lahore in March.

For years, Pakistan’s international test cricket matches have been played abroad and the current Twenty20 tournament is being played in United Arab Emirates due to security fears.

(Reporting by Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore; Additional reporting by Mehreen Zahra-Malik in Islamabad and Jibran Ahmad in Peshawar; Writing by Drazen Jorgic,; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

Brain Eating Amoeba Found in Louisiana Drinking Water

The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals has confirmed that the deadly brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri was found in the drinking water of the St. Bernard Parish water system.

The parish has been asked to conduct a 60-day “chlorine burn” to kill off the amoeba.  The parish said they would comply “out of an abundance of caution.”

“At this point that’s a decision that the DHH has to make. We trust their expertise in this field. We do we feel that the system is fine and this was an anomaly,” said St. Bernard Parish President David Peralta.

“One positive test was at a site at the water treatment plant before the water was treated,” reads a statement from the DHH. “The second positive test occurred at 948 Angela Street, which may have been contaminated by ground water due to a leak at the sampling station.”

“Someone hit it. They probably hit it with a car or tractor or lawn mower-never reported it. It pocketed some water, so when they took the sample some of the standing water infiltrated our line. And that’s what gave us a positive indication,” said St. Bernard Parish President Dave Peralta.

The DHH says that the water is safe to drink, but that people should avoid getting water in their nose when bathing, washing or swimming because that’s the method the amoeba reaches the brain.  Only three people in the world since the discovery of the amoeba have survived an infection.

Meraux homeowner Ashley Jolly told WDSU she was shocked to get an alert about the amoeba in the middle of giving her twin boys a bath.

“They like to play in the water. And they just went through swimming lessons and they’re learning to blow water in and out of their nose and their mouths,” said Jolly.