False alarm: Bomb hoax causes stampede in girls’ school | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

False alarm: Bomb hoax causes stampede in girls’ school

Muhammad Sadaqat

ABBOTABAD: Several girls were injured in a stampede caused by a bomb hoax at a government school on Saturday.

Quoting the administration of Govt Comprehensive Girls High School, District Coordination Officer Abbottabad Syed Imtiaz Hussain told The Express Tribune that a mentally ill woman managed to enter the classroom for grade-seven students on the third floor of the school building and claimed of carrying a bomb in a shoe box. The news caused uproar and a stampede across the school, causing injuries to several students.

Police and bomb disposal squad were called in, who cordoned off the school premises. Upon inspection, the bomb threat was rendered a hoax after the shoe box was found empty.

The school’s watchman, Sher Afzal, claimed that one student was slightly injured when the woman pushed her down the stairs after she tried to stop the woman from entering a classroom. A teacher who was taking a class in the adjacent room said the woman started singing and dancing and then claimed of carrying a bomb.

The woman fled from the school but was soon apprehended by the police. She has been identified as a resident of Thanda Mera, a local village, said the DCO. He said that the police did not register an FIR against the woman; however, he assured that an inquiry has been initiated and if the woman is proved sane a criminal case will be registered against her.

The school, which has an estimated strength of 3,000 students, remained closed for the rest of the day on the DCO’s orders.

The Express Tribune