Suicide attack outside Gadaffi stadium foiled: Pakistan Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid

A blast occurred outside the Gadaffi stadium in Lahore during the second ODI between Pakistan and Zimbabwe on Friday. Pakistan's information minister Pervaiz Rashid has said that the blast was an attempted attack on the Gadaffi stadium that was foiled by a police official, who lost his life. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had issued a statement saying that it was a 'power transformer blast' caused due to malfunctioning.

"An attempt to attack the Gaddafi Stadium was foiled by the gallantry of a police official, who lost his life while trying to stop the attacker near Kalma Chowk," Rashid told GeoNews.

The blast took the lives of the police official and a citizen when the suicide bomber blew himself up less than a kilometre away from the Gadaffi stadium. Four policemen and a civilian were also injured in the attack.

"The gas cylinder fixed in the auto rickshaw was exploded. Two persons including a policeman were killed in the blast. Forensic samples had been collected from the site to determine the nature of the explosion," Lahore police chief Amin Wains said.

While there were reports coming in off a blast near the Gadaffi stadium, it was taken off air after PCB's statement.

Rashid praised the actions of Pakistan Broadcasters Association for "covering up" the news while the cricket match was underway.

"More than 20,000 people were in the stadium and panic could cause stampede," he said, according to reports.

However, the police have denied that the was a suicide attack.

This is the first cricket tour in Pakistan after 6 years after the Sri Lankan team's bus was subjected to a militant attack. Pakistan's officials have taken a lot of precautions to give high security to the visiting Zimbabwe team to prevent any untoward incident.