国际英语新闻：29 killed, 60 injured in twin blasts in Pakistan's Lahore

ISLAMABAD, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Two explosions killed 29 persons, injured at least 60 others in eastern Pakistan's Lahore on Monday evening, local TV channels reported.

    Twin blasts took place outside Moon Market police station in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, the private TV DAWN News reported.

Police sources said that a bomb was hidden in a stall and another was planted in a motorcycle.

    They said that 29 people were killed, including children and women. The condition of several injured is said to be serious, and some people are still trapped in the rubble.

TV grab taken on Dec. 7, 2009 shows people gathering at the explosion site at the Moon Market in Lahore in east Pakistan

    Death toll is feared to be increasing as the Moon Market is a busy commercial area of the metropolitan and is generally crowded with children and women.

    Witnesses said that large number of shoppers were present at the market at the time of blasts. Ambulances and rescue teams reached the blast site, and at least 70 people were shifted to Services hospital, Jinnah Hospital and other nearby hospitals where emergency have been declared.

    Several shops and a bank caught fire due to the blasts. The fierce fire is engulfing surrounding buildings. Several vehicles parked in the commercial area were also damaged and caught fire. Fire fighters are making efforts to tackle the blaze but it is continuously gutting other shops of the market.

TV grab taken on Dec. 7, 2009 shows the blaze after two explosions hit the Moon Market in Lahore in east Pakistan

Power supply to the area has been suspended after the blast. People were making hue and cry at the blast site and searching their beloved ones.

    This is the third terror incident on Monday in the country. Earlier in the day, 11 people were killed and nearly 50 injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a court complex in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province, while eight people were injured in a blast in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan.

    More than 400 people have been killed in attacks in recent months in Pakistan. Most attacks have been directed at security forces, though several targeted crowded public spaces such as markets.

    Lahore is Pakistan's second-largest city and is not far from the border with India. It has been hit several times by militants over the last year

    Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani in separate messages strongly condemned the twin blasts in Lahore. President Zardari said such cowardly acts of terrorism would not deter the government's resolve to fight this menace in the country.

    Prime Minister Gilani expressed his deep grief over the killing of innocent people and prayed for the early recovery of injured. He directed the concerned authorities to investigate the matter and provide best possible medical treatment to the injured.