3 nurses killed, 21 hurt in attack at Christian hospital

0 Comments | Asian Political News, August 12, 2002

TAXILA, Pakistan, Aug. 9 Kyodo

At least three nurses were killed and 21 other people wounded Friday in a grenade attack at a Christian hospital near Islamabad, police and eyewitness said.

Three attackers entered the hospital after overpowering a security guard and hurled two grenades at worshipers who were coming out of a chapel inside the hospital in Taxila, about 25 kilometers west of Islamabad, the police and witnesses said.

Binyamin Paul, one of the worshipers, told reporters that nearly 120 Christian worshipers were coming out of the chapel when the attack erupted around 7:45 a.m.

Most of the 21 injured were women and 13 are in serious condition, police said.

Two of the three attackers escaped but the other died near the site. Police are investigating the cause of his death.

A doctor who examined the body said wounds on his back apparently caused by a flying shrapnel of the grenades were not serious enough to kill him.

''He swallowed something when he fell,'' the doctor added.

The hospital is located in the heart of the marketplace in the small town.

The attack came four days after six people were killed when two men opened fire at a Christian school in Murree, about 40 km east of the capital.