Saturday June 16, 2007

Little girl injured in explosion at Puduraya

By RASHITHA A. HAMID

KUALA LUMPUR: An 11-year-old girl was injured when what is believed to be a homemade bomb exploded at the concourse of Puduraya bus terminal here.

Aqilah Nadiah Zamzar suffered burns on her face and several parts of her body when the explosives, which was placed inside a snack wrapper and left on a concrete bench at the entrance to platform seven, went off at 9.10pm yesterday.

Scene of crime: Policemen cleaning the area where the homemade bomb exploded at the Puduraya bus terminal in Kuala Lumpur last night.

She was sitting on the bench while her aunt and a cousin were about to sit down when the bomb exploded. The three were waiting to board a bus to Kota Tinggi.

No one else was hurt in the incident.

Bus operations at the terminal were not disrupted although the affected area was cordoned off.

Aqilah was rushed to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital and was admitted to the paediatric ward.

Acting city police chief SAC (I) Zulhasnan Najib Baharuddin, who confirmed that the explosion was caused by explosives placed inside a food wrapper, said police were investigating the content of the explosives.

“We have collected evidence from the scene and hope it will help in our investigations,” he said when met at the scene.

It is learnt that batteries, a can, mineral water bottle and gunpowder were found at the scene.

SAC Zulhasnan said police would also look at the CCTV footage at the terminal.

Puduraya shopkeeper Abdul Razak Abdul Rahman, who was a few metres away from the scene, said he heard a very loud explosion.

He said he immediately ran to the spot and found a little girl crying with injuries on her face and body.

“I carried her to the police beat base at the bus terminal before the officers called an ambulance,” he said.

Another shopkeeper Zainon Othman, 45, said she heard a loud sound like a bus tyre bursting and then saw smoke right in front of her shop.

“I then saw a man carrying a little girl and running towards the police beat base,” she said.

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