LAHORE: When a labourer’s family moved to Lahore from a small town of Sadhoki, Gujrat, about seven months ago, little did they know what lay ahead.

Rafique rented a house in Barkat Colony, a small locality near Adda Shabeel, GT Road. The men in the family started selling fruit in a nearby market.

“When they came here about seven months ago, they were very happy. They started residing in a rented house near mine. Rafique and some of his relatives started selling fruit in a bazaar,” Muhammad Akram, a relative and neighbour of Rafique’s, told Dawn on Monday.

Also read: Wagah attack

He said Rafique and his family would visit his house almost daily and were very happy with their decision to move to Lahore. Rafique would recall the days gone by when his family had to struggle to make a living in Sadhoki, Akram added.

“I always appreciated his hard work and encouraged him to keep it up,” he added. He said on Saturday morning a cousin and his family came over to Rafique’s house so they all could go together to attend the funeral of another relative who had died in the nearby Kotli Gassi village.

Rafique, his wife, six and 10-year-old sons Mazhar and Azhar and 19-year-old daughter and the visiting relatives went to the village for the funeral.

“On Sunday, Rafique and his cousin’s family decided to attend the flag-lowering ceremony at Wagah Border,” Akram said.

He added that at about 6:30pm that evening, his children told him about TV reports of a bomb blast at the border. Several neighbours gathered in the street and decided to go to the border. A van was hired to transport them, but on the way police diverted them to Ghurki Trust Hospital, he added.

“On reaching there, we found out that Rafique, his son Mazhar and three relatives, including two women, dead. His wife, daughter, the other son and some other relatives were severely injured. I cannot explain what I witnessed; everyone was crying,” Akram recalled.

He said six-year-old Mazhar had recently been admitted to school and would come to his house daily to do his homework with his daughter. He further said the bodies were mutilated to the extent that they decided to instantly take them to Sadhoki for the funeral. He said the entire Barkat Colony was in a state of shock and grief.

“The incident has left an unending fear among the residents. They say it is better to stay home than go out for recreation,” Akram said.

Meanwhile, bodies of the deceased Rangers officials were dispatched to their native towns after funeral prayers held at the Rangers Headquarters. Inspector Rizwan’s body was sent to Arifwala and soldiers Bashir and Sultan’s to Mandi Bahauddin and Narowal, respectively.

Bodies of nine members of a family were dispatched to Samundri, Faisalabad district, where their funeral prayers were offered at 471-GB village.

Eighteen members of a family were in Lahore from Samundri to visit their relatives. During their stay, they decided to attend the flag-lowering ceremony, which proved to be fatal for them. Nine members of the family, including four women and five children, were killed in the suicide blast. A large crowd had gathered for their funeral after their bodies were shifted to their village for burial.

Similarly, six bodies of a family were airlifted to Karachi. The family had come to Lahore a couple of days ago to meet relatives.

On the other hand, citizens expressed grief over the tragic bombing.

“Our lives are not secure in our own country, city or locality. What do we do and where do we go? I have advised my family not to go outside, particularly to markets, parks and other public places. I have told them that I will bring the daily-use items home myself,” Dawn noted a shopkeeper telling a customer near Mughalpura Underpass.

Published in Dawn, November 4th , 2014