Gunmen killed four members of a polio vaccination team in Pakistan’s restive southwest on Wednesday, and one survivor recounted screaming at police and dozens of passers-by for help before it finally arrived.
The attack – the latest in a series by militants in Pakistan – happened on the eastern outskirts of Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan province. Thousands of other polio vaccinators will refuse to go back to work unless they are assured of greater security, a representative said.
“A team of seven polio workers was getting ready to launch the fourth and final day of the campaign when two men riding a motorbike opened fire on their vehicle,” provincial home secretary Akbar Durrani told AFP.
The vaccination team leader, who wished to be identified by her first name ‘Rubi’, said the driver of her minivan fled when the men on the motorbike pulled out in front and flashed a gun.
“Then they started firing from the front, I received bullets and fell down, I was bleeding. Then they went to the side of the vehicle and started firing,” she said.
Rubi and others got out of the minivan after the gunmen fled the scene – but minutes passed before they could flag down help. “I was bleeding and feeling so weak but I struggled to get down and saw a policemen nearby. I screamed for help but he walked away and disappeared down a street,” she said.
“I kept on screaming, begging for help but vehicles wouldn’t stop.” A motorcycle rider finally came to their aid. But two more workers, a husband and wife, died of their injuries on their way to hospital.