BREAKING NEWS : Benazir Bhutto shot dead
December 27, 2007 19:18 IST
Former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto was shot dead on Thursday when gunmen opened fire at her vehicle just before a suicide bomber blew himself up at a election rally addressed by her in Rawalpindi, killing more than 20 people and injuring several others.
Reports said five bullets were fired, one of which pierced her neck. The 54-year-old leader of Pakistan People's Party was rushed to Rawalpindi general hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Rahman Malik, the PPP chairperson's security advisor, said some persons fired at Bhutto's vehicle before the suicide attacker blew himself up.
"She expired at 6:16 pm," said Wasif Ali Khan, a PPP member, who was at the hospital, said.
She is survived by her husband Asif Ali Zardari and two children.
Initially, reports said the Pakistan People's Party chief had escaped a second bid on her life in 10 weeks.
Witnesses said a man rushed towards Bhutto's car as she was leaving the sprawling ground, where she had addressed thousands of PPP supporters, and blew himself up. Several people who were around her car were blown to pieces. A television reporter at the scene said the suicide bomber's head was found almost 70 feet from the site of the blast.
Eyewitnesses said body parts were strewn across the area. Ambulances rushed the injured from the spot to nearby hospitals. Police officials said it was a suicide attack in which at least 20 people were killed and many others injured.
Responses
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- Guest 11 years ago
Political vindictiveness, religious fanaticism and gender bias are dangerous to any society. Benazir Bhutto has been a victim of all three. The world should wake up and curb fanaticism of all sorts and stand up against violence. Pakistan was formed under the tears and pain of Mahatma Gandhi. It is unfortunate that even today it continues to bring tears to all those who espouse non-violence - Sri Sri. Benazir Bhutto had the capacity and will to revolutionize entire Paksitan. I was planning to expand my business into Pakistan and this unfortunate incidence has made me to rethink. As I expanded my business abroad I realized the importance of the English language as the medium for communication. Once it so happened that my email was misinterpreted and it cost me dearly. I needed to learn English and when I was introduced to ‘Learn English Through Success Secrets’, I discovered that learning English was not at all difficult at this point in my life. The best part of it is that the entire content is programmed into a single CD which I can carry with me and use it when I am traveling - Fahad Salim,Businessman UAE.