Sindh govt lacks resources for larger capacity hospital in Sehwan: CM

KARACHI: The Sindh government does not have enough resources to build a hospital of larger capacity in Sehwan, said Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah during the assembly session on Monday.

"Presently, there is a 50-bed hospital in the city," he said while briefing the assembly on the blast at the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sehwan on February 16. 

While pointing out at the loopholes, the chief minister said sufficient security measures were not in place at the shrine. "We should have improved security arrangements after the bomb blast at Shah Noorani shrine in Khuzdar, Balochistan."

Moreover, he added, there was a power outage at the shrine at the time of the blast, despite dues being paid.  

Even some cameras were not functioning, he maintained, but the suicide bomber has been identified with the help of footage from other CCTV cameras.

"The suicide bomber does not belong to Sindh," Shah said. "But terrorists are present in Jacobabad, Shikarpur and Kashmore."  

He added National Database and Registration Authority has been contacted for the identification of three facilitators of the bomber.

He spoke about the missing people and unidentified bodies, saying their DNAs will be checked.

However, the chief minister lashed out at the criticism hurdled at the provincial government, saying it was a time when people should have showed support instead of vilifying the authorities.

"The situation would have been similar had such a large-scale incident occurred in Karachi," he maintained. "A terrorism bid was foiled in Karachi last night as a terrorist was killed and a huge amount of explosives and weapons were found in his possession."