Lahore: A blast near the premises of Qaddafi Stadium on Friday—which took place during a one-day international match between Pakistan and Zimbabwe — was confirmed as a suicide attack by Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid, who said a sub-inspector lost his life while trying to stop the suicide bomber.

Talking to Geo News, Rashid said an attempt to attack the stadium was foiled by the gallantry of a police official, who lost his life while trying to stop the attacker near Kalma Chowk in Lahore. He added that six people were wounded in the incident.

The information minister praised the actions of Pakistan Broadcasters Association for “Covering up” the news while the cricket match was ongoing so as not to spread panic.

Local media had at first reported an explosion close to Gaddafi stadium but reports were taken off air after it was falsely asserted that the explosion was caused by an electricity transformer in the area.

Later, Punjab police’s IG Operations, while addressing a press briefing said two people — Sub-Inspector Abdul Majeed and a civilian Rizwan — were killed in the blast, DawnNews reported.

But the senior police official claimed that the blast happened inside a rickshaw and that forensic samples had been collected from the site to determine the nature of the explosion.

(AP)