Bomb blast strikes Easter celebrants in Pakistan
Easter celebrations turned to carnage at an amusement park in Lahore, Pakistan, after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest, killing 65 and wounding over 250. Photographers like Arif Ali of AFP who captured people celebrating in churches around the city earlier in the day, later turned their lenses to a bomb blast and the resulting bloodshed. A Taliban splinter group claimed responsibility for the attack, which targeted members of Pakistan’s Christian minority.
- Christian women pray during an Easter service at St Anthony’s Church in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, March 27, 2016. Christians across the world are celebrating Easter, commemorating the day followers believe Jesus was resurrected in Jerusalem over 2,000 years ago. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
- Pakistani Christians gather during an Easter service at a church in Lahore on March 27, 2016. Pope Francis spoke out against the “rejection” of refugees as the European migrant crisis saw its latest desperate scenes on the Greek border with Macedonia. The pontiff used his Easter address to urge people to offer “welcome and assistance” to those fleeing war and poverty, as Europe struggles with its worst migration crisis since World War II. (AFP PHOTO / ARIF ALI)
- Pakistani Christians embrace after attending an Easter service at a church in Lahore on March 27, 2016. Pope Francis spoke out against the “rejection” of refugees as the European migrant crisis saw its latest desperate scenes on the Greek border with Macedonia. The pontiff used his Easter address to urge people to offer “welcome and assistance” to those fleeing war and poverty, as Europe struggles with its worst migration crisis since World War II. (AFP PHOTO / ARIF ALI)
- Pakistani Christians gather during an Easter service at a church in Lahore on March 27, 2016. Pope Francis spoke out against the “rejection” of refugees as the European migrant crisis saw its latest desperate scenes on the Greek border with Macedonia. The pontiff used his Easter address to urge people to offer “welcome and assistance” to those fleeing war and poverty, as Europe struggles with its worst migration crisis since World War II. (AFP PHOTO / ARIF ALI)
- Pakistani relatives of injured victims gather outside the hospital in Lahore on March 27, 2016, after at least 56 people were killed and more than 200 injured when an apparent suicide bomb ripped through the parking lot of a crowded park in the Pakistani city of Lahore where Christians were celebrating Easter. (AFP PHOTO / ARIF ALI)
- A Pakistani relative carries an injured child to the hospital in Lahore on March 27, 2016, after at least 56 people were killed and more than 200 injured when an apparent suicide bomb ripped through the parking lot of a crowded park in the Pakistani city of Lahore where Christians were celebrating Easter. (AFP PHOTO / ARIF ALI)
- Pakistani rescuers use a stretcher to shift a body from a bomb blast site in Lahore on March 27, 2016. At least 25 people were killed and dozens injured when an explosion ripped through the parking lot of a crowded park where many minority Christians had gone to celebrate Easter Sunday in the Pakistani city Lahore, officials said. (AFP PHOTO / ARIF ALI)
- Pakistani rescuers carry a body in an ambulance from a bomb blast site in Lahore on March 27, 2016. At least 25 people were killed and dozens injured when an explosion ripped through the parking lot of a crowded park where many minority Christians had gone to celebrate Easter Sunday in the Pakistani city Lahore, officials said. (AFP PHOTO / ARIF ALI)
- A Pakistani eye witness talks with media representatives at a bomb blast site in Lahore on March 27, 2016. At least 25 people were killed and dozens injured when an explosion ripped through the parking lot of a crowded park where many minority Christians had gone to celebrate Easter Sunday in the Pakistani city Lahore, officials said. (AFP PHOTO / ARIF ALI)
- Pakistani rescuers and officials gather at a bomb blast site in Lahore on March 27, 2016. At least 56 people were killed and more than 200 injured when an apparent suicide bomb ripped through the parking lot of a crowded park in the Pakistani city of Lahore where Christians were celebrating Easter Sunday, officials said. (AFP PHOTO / ARIF ALI)
- Pakistani rescuers use a stretcher to shift a body from a bomb blast site in Lahore on March 27, 2016. At least 25 people were killed and dozens injured when an explosion ripped through the parking lot of a crowded park where many minority Christians had gone to celebrate Easter Sunday in the Pakistani city Lahore, officials said. (AFP PHOTO / ARIF ALI)
- Pakistani police officers stand guard at the site of a bomb blast in a park in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, March, 27, 2016. A bomb blast in a park in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore has killed tens of people and wounded scores, a health official said. (AP Photo/K.M. Chuadary)