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| Insensitivity hinders rescue work |
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Monday, September 22, 2008
by Saadia Khalid
Islamabad
With the news of the blast flashing on television screens, hundreds of people thronged the Marriott Hotel to avail the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of having a glance of the unfortunate incident.
Although there was nothing good to see on the spot, yet the height of insensitivity among people was witnessed when soon after the blast, they arrived on the premises of the hotel and not only created a traffic mess but also hindered the rescue process.
The private vehicles queued up at Ataturk Avenue and Agha Khan Road left no space for the ambulances and fire brigades to cross and despite concrete efforts made by Islamabad Police and Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP), the huge rush of pedestrians and vehicles remained uncontrollable.
The unfortunate incident occurred on Saturday night that claimed more than 60 innocent lives while hundreds of injured were brought to the three main hospitals of the city including Polyclinic (FGSH), Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and Capital Development Authority (CDA) Hospital.
People even continued coming to the spot on the second day apparently to express sympathy for the victims but they were neither bringing flowers nor candles to express their sorrow or sympathy, rather they brought their kids and other family members along with cameras to capture the ‘unforgettable moment’.
It is worth mentioning here that whenever such an incident takes place in any part of the world, the whole area is cordoned off in order to facilitate the rescue operation and investigation, but the situation appears quite contrary in case of Pakistan.
It is no doubt about the intentions of the people, but there could be so many ways to express solidarity with the victims, as hundreds of people lying in the hospitals along with their attendants required sympathy and help of people.
A police official present on the spot told ‘The News’ that they were trying their level best to stop people from approaching the spot but were failing, as people were using shortcuts to reach there. “If people really want to help the victims, they should go to the hospitals, donate blood and medicines, and provide meals to the attendants,” he said.
He said people don’t realise how dangerous it could be to visit such a spot, as there could be another blast or any other such incident. “Too much rush of people hinders the process of investigation,” he said.
On the other hand, the visitors said they wanted to see the destruction directly. “Although we have seen everything on our television screens, yet we came here to watch it directly,” said Nadeem Ahmed.
When asked about the hindrance caused by the presence of huge crowds of people on the spot, he said he could not deny this fact but his intention was not to become an obstacle in the rescue operation.
Another visitor, Shaista Ammar, agreed to the fact that people had become insensitive in such cases and came to the spot just for the sake of entertainment. “I just realised we are standing and watching the whole process just for entertainment, otherwise, we can do a lot to help the victims,” she said.
Shaista said that the reason behind the insensitivity is the series of blasts that had occurred during a short span of time, as 10 suicide attacks have occurred during the last two years.
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ISSN 1563-9479 
