Witness to Pakistan blast: “Women and children were burning.”
By Zahir Shah Sherazi, Holly Yan and Emma Lacey-Bordeaux, CNN
September 29, 2013 — Updated 1420 GMT (2220 HKT)
Rescue workers, police officers and civilians gather at the site of a car bomb explosion in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Sunday, September 29. A car loaded with 485 pounds of explosives went off in the city’s historic Qissa Khawani bazaar. 
People help injured women at the site of the explosion in Peshawar on September 29. 
A man rushes a child away from the site of the blast on September 29. 
Rescue workers evacuate an injured man from a building at the site of the explosion. 
A man tries to make a phone call after the explosion. 
An injured man is helped away from the site of the explosion. 
Injured victims are carried away after the blast. 
An injured man waits for help at the site of the blast. HIDE CAPTION
Car bomb rocks Peshawar
Car bomb rocks Peshawar
Car bomb rocks Peshawar
Car bomb rocks Peshawar
Car bomb rocks Peshawar
Car bomb rocks Peshawar
Car bomb rocks Peshawar
Car bomb rocks Peshawar
Car bomb rocks Peshawar
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: One family lost eighteen members in the attack
- The Pakistani Taliban denied responsibility, condemned attack
- At least 38 were killed and about 100 wounded in an attack on historic Pakistani bazaar
- Witness: “Everything was on fire. Women and children were burning.”
Peshawar, Pakistan (CNN) — At least 40 people were killed and about 100 were wounded after a bomb exploded at a bazaar in Peshawar, officials at a Pakistani hospital said.
A car carrying 220 kilograms (440 pounds) of explosives detonated in the city’s historic Qissa Khawani bazaar, destroying at least 10 shops, several vehicles and leaving a huge crater, said Shafqat Malik, chief of the bomb disposal unit.
The Pakistani Taliban, Tehrik-i-Taliban, condemned the attack and denied any involvement.
Qissa Khawani bazaar, or the “storytellers’ market,” was the site of a bloody massacre in April 1930 when British soldiers fired on peaceful demonstrators, killing hundreds. At the time, Pakistan was part of India — and India was under British rule.
Alamzeb Khan was working at a nearby tea stall when he felt the earth shake. The impact of the blast knocked him to the ground.
“When I got up, everything was on fire. Women and children were burning in (a) Suzuki pickup, and a number of vehicles were destroyed, besides the shops (that) were also on fire,” Khan said.
The death toll is expected to rise, as most of the wounded are critically injured, said Dr. Arshad Javed, chief executive of Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar.
Already, people are sharing stories of incredible loss. One family traveled to Peshawar to attend a wedding. Now they’re planning a mass funeral. In all, the family lost eighteen members in the attack, including children.
A gruesome week
Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan’s volatile Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has endured a violent week.
On Monday, 81 people were killed in a suicide bombing at a Protestant church in one of the deadliest attacks ever on the Christian community in Pakistan.
A splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility, saying the attack was in response to U.S. drone strikes in tribal areas.
And on Friday, at least 17 people were killed and more than 30 others wounded in an explosion that ripped through a bus carrying government employees.
Sikander Khan Sherpao, senior minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, suggested the attack had been carried out by forces wanting to sabotage recent efforts by the national government to pursue peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack at the bazaar. The Pakistani Taliban decried the loss of innocent life but at the same time struck a defiant note. “We are targeting the government machinery and the law enforcement agencies but not general public,” said spokesman Shaidullah Shaid.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is rife with Islamic extremists and has been the site of clashes between Pakistani security forces and militants.
Earlier this month, Pakistani officials announced plans to pursue peace talks with Taliban militants and withdraw troops from parts of the volatile northwestern region, which borders Afghanistan.
CNN’s Holly Yan and Emma Lacey-Bordeaux reported and wrote from Atlanta; journalist Zahir Shah Sherazi reported from Peshawar.
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Blast witness: ‘Women and children were burning’
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