ISLAMABAD: Harrowing scenes were witnessed at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), where the dead and injured from the Imambargah Khadijatul Kubra terror attack were brought in amid rainfall after Friday prayers.
An inconsolable scene was witnessed at the hospital, as family members, including women and children, of the injured and deceased, started arriving. They were wailing and loudly praying. Some women even expressed helplessness while crying, saying their main breadwinners had been hit in the terror attack.
The grieving families, friends and emergency responders struggled to manage the chaotic situation, while the rescue teams rushed the wounded into the emergency wards.
Ambulances arrived in rapid succession from the blast site in Tarlai situated in the outskirts of the federal capital with rescue workers rushing the wounded into emergency and doctors and paramedics providing immediate medical care.
Hospital administration hands over 28 bodies to relatives; 105 injured under treatment
Officials at the hospital said an emergency had been declared to ensure the availability of doctors, nurses and essential medical supplies. Additional staffers were called in to assist with treatment and help identify the deceased. Several victims were shifted to operation theatres, while others were treated in the hospital’s emergency wards.
The Pims administration handed over 28 bodies to the families from the OPD by late evening and 105 injured were under treatment.
Outside the emergency ward, anxious relatives gathered in a large number, seeking information about their loved ones, in tears and later gathered at the parking lot, chanting slogans against terrorism.
Meanwhile, waiting among the grieved people were two clerics, who were reciting religious sermons and narrating the Karbala incident.
The clerics, requesting not to be named, told Dawn that the most important role of community leaders, including religious leaders, was to prevent formation of mobs.
“People get upset, disappointed and vent their anger on anything they see. We do not want any mob start damaging property or misbehave with hospital staff,” the clerics added.
Police and district administration officials were also present at the hospital to coordinate with medical teams and maintain order as the situation remained tense late into the night.
Many of the deceased and injured were originally from the Hazara community of Quetta and had relocated here, along with people from Hangu and Parachinar, escaping repeated terrorism in those areas. Some people from Gilgit-Baltistan also settled in Tarlai as it is a cheaper locality.
It was announced that the collective funeral prayers of the deceased will be held at the same place (Imambargah Khadijatul Kubra) at 11am on Saturday (today).
Incidentally, the Pims area witnessed very weak mobile network signals and slow data. However, all four telecom companies – Ufone, Jazz, Zong and Telenor – responding to a query said they had not lowered the signals for the area. They explained that the poor network quality could be due to a capacity issue, probably because of the large number of people in the area at the same time.
Published in Dawn, February 7th, 2026
