Explosion in Sultan Park injures 12 tourists
| DATE: 2007-09-29 | PRINT | Share
29 September 2007 -- The relative peace of the Maldivian capital Male’ was shattered when a small bomb was detonated inside the Sultan Park this afternoon. Twelve tourists were seriously injured in the explosion.
In an interview with the media this evening, Police Superintendent Ahmed Faseeh said that they had received reports that something had exploded inside Sultan Park around 2:30pm today. He said that it wasn’t clear exactly what it was that had caused the explosion but confirmed that the people that had been injured in the explosion were all tourists. He also said that two of the tourists who were injured were in ‘serious condition’.
He said that the Police strongly condemned the incident and urged the public to send in any information, photo or video that anyone might have managed to get of the incident.
Immediately following the incident the Police and members of the Maldives National Defence Force cordoned off the area and began their investigation. Although it wasn’t immediately clear what had caused the explosion, people who were at the area during the incident said that they had heard ‘a phone ring right before the loud explosion was heard’.
“After showing the tourists the museum inside the park we had just reached the gate of the Park when I heard a mobile phone ring followed by a loud explosion,” a tourist guide, who had been conducting a tour with some tourists when the incident had occurred at the Park, said from ADK Hospital where some of the injured tourists had been admitted. “When I looked back I saw that one of the tourist’s entire legs from the knee below was on fire. I immediately told the tourist to strip. By that time the skin on his leg was burned. Shrapnel, possibly nails, from the bomb struck the tourists, wounding them. Half the hair on the head of one of the guests I was with was completely burned off. The hands were also bleeding from several wounds.”
The wounded tourists had immediately been taken to the Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital and ADK Hospital. When Haveeru reporters went to ADK they found three burn victims, all of them tourists, being treated for their burns. One had suffered severe burns below the waist. The other two had suffered various burns all over their body. The others who were injured were a Chinese woman, a Japanese couple and two European tourists.
A broken phone, a timer and some concrete nails believed to be used as shrapnel for the bomb was recovered at the scene by the Police.
| DATE: 2007-09-29 | PRINT | Share
Broken remains of the mobile phone and its timer used for the bomb that was detonated inside the Sultan Park on 29 September 2007. Some of the concrete nails used as shrapnel for the bomb is also seen in the picture. Haveeru Photo: Ali Nishan
29 September 2007 -- The relative peace of the Maldivian capital Male’ was shattered when a small bomb was detonated inside the Sultan Park this afternoon. Twelve tourists were seriously injured in the explosion.
In an interview with the media this evening, Police Superintendent Ahmed Faseeh said that they had received reports that something had exploded inside Sultan Park around 2:30pm today. He said that it wasn’t clear exactly what it was that had caused the explosion but confirmed that the people that had been injured in the explosion were all tourists. He also said that two of the tourists who were injured were in ‘serious condition’.
He said that the Police strongly condemned the incident and urged the public to send in any information, photo or video that anyone might have managed to get of the incident.
Immediately following the incident the Police and members of the Maldives National Defence Force cordoned off the area and began their investigation. Although it wasn’t immediately clear what had caused the explosion, people who were at the area during the incident said that they had heard ‘a phone ring right before the loud explosion was heard’.
“After showing the tourists the museum inside the park we had just reached the gate of the Park when I heard a mobile phone ring followed by a loud explosion,” a tourist guide, who had been conducting a tour with some tourists when the incident had occurred at the Park, said from ADK Hospital where some of the injured tourists had been admitted. “When I looked back I saw that one of the tourist’s entire legs from the knee below was on fire. I immediately told the tourist to strip. By that time the skin on his leg was burned. Shrapnel, possibly nails, from the bomb struck the tourists, wounding them. Half the hair on the head of one of the guests I was with was completely burned off. The hands were also bleeding from several wounds.”
The wounded tourists had immediately been taken to the Indhira Gandhi Memorial Hospital and ADK Hospital. When Haveeru reporters went to ADK they found three burn victims, all of them tourists, being treated for their burns. One had suffered severe burns below the waist. The other two had suffered various burns all over their body. The others who were injured were a Chinese woman, a Japanese couple and two European tourists.
A broken phone, a timer and some concrete nails believed to be used as shrapnel for the bomb was recovered at the scene by the Police.
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