LAHORE: The city continued to be in a daze a day after the horrific blast at Defence’s Z-Block market. Although most markets had business as usual on Friday, unlike ‘voluntary’ closure of the emporia especially in DHA and Gulberg on the agonising Thursday, a sense of gloom and sombreness somewhat lingered.

According to official figures, seven people died and more than 30 injured, some of them fighting life-threatening scars, in the upscale market blast around 11am on Thursday. It also triggered panic as the affected people made frantic efforts to find about their dear ones in city’s hospitals and parents rushed to the schools to pick their children well before time.

Most traders in markets such as Liberty, M.M. Alam Road and Gulberg’s Main Boulevard temporarily closed their shops both out of fear and in deference to those who fell a victim to the tragedy.

By Thursday afternoon the roads wore a deserted look and one could feel the impact of the incident, wailing ambulances whizzing by.

Some traders Dawn spoke to expressed their shock over the incident and demanded that the government use the full might of law to eliminate the terrorists once and for all. They said there was a bomb hoax in Gulberg which added to the panic and the closure of shops was also an expression of solidarity with those in the immediate surroundings of the blast site.

Outside a market was a group of shopkeepers playing cricket in the parking lot. “Since there’s no business, we have to while away and divert our attention from the ghastly incident that took place earlier in the day. There’s no escape from one’s workplace… one has to keep calm and composed and understand that life must go on,” commented a shopkeeper. The game, he said, signified kind of resilience and was a way of standing tall in depressing times.

Meanwhile, the educational institutions remained closed on Friday. Some institutions had to put off examinations they had been conducting for the past one week.

“It is difficult to stay focused and concentrate on studies as a blast leaves a trail of miseries and has debilitating effect on people far and wide,” said a student. Whenever there’s such a tragedy, it take citizens many days to come out of shock and resume normal activities, he said.

The government claims that there’s no evidence of a terrorist activity and the DHA blast was an “accident caused by a cylinder explosion”.

“The fact remains that no word can assuage the grief of those directly hit by the blast and any compensation can be meaningful only if it is complemented with willingness to prevent any such incident in future. People obviously look up to the government authorities to rid them of the scourge of terrorism by realising the gravity of the situation and shunning political and institutional differences,” demands a citizen.

Published in Dawn, February 25th, 2017