69 killed, 300 injured as suicide blast hits Pakistan on Easter

Rescue workers move a body from the site of a blast outside a public park in Lahore, Pakistan, March 27, 2016.[Photo/Agencies]

ISLAMABAD - At least 69 people including a large number of women and kids were killed and over 300 others injured when a suicide bomber hit a public park in Pakistan's east Lahore city on Sunday evening, officials said.

Deputy Coordination Officer Lahore, Captain Usman, said that the killed people included 23 kids whereas 56 injured children were shifted to various hospitals of the city.

Haider Ashraf, the Deputy Inspector General Police, said that the suicide bomber blew himself up in the parking stand near the gate of the Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park in the Lahore city, the capital of the country's east Punjab province.

He said that the stand was located near the kids' swing area and ticket booth and the bomber chose it to explode himself for targeting a large number of people in which he succeeded.

He said that the park was crowded than usual due to Sunday's holiday and a number minority Christian people was also visiting it to celebrate the Easter festival, when the blast happened.

A Pakistan Taliban splinter group claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide attack in Lahore that killed over 60 people and injured over 300 on Sunday.