Multiple bomb blasts yesterday damaged a bridge over the Indus river, a vital source of water in parched southern Pakistan, police said. Unidentified attackers fixed explosives to the six pillars of the Jamshoro bridge, 170km north of Karachi, police officer Dost Ali Baloch told AFP. "It was quite powerful material which damaged the pillars of the bridge," he said, adding that a protective shield under the bridge averted major destruction. Experts were brought in to assess the damage but traffic was still passing over the bridge, he said.
| However, buses were only allowed to carry an extra 40 people on their roofs, instead of the usual 60. |
The Jamshoro bridge is on top of the last water barrage at the tail of the Indus river, which supplies much of Pakistan's irrigiation and drinking water needs. No organisation had claimed responsibility for the blast but the police said it was an "act of sheer terrorism." |