The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Karachi

Benazir Bhutto's triumphant return to Pakistan ended in horrific scenes of carnage beneath a mural declaring, "Long live Bhutto." AP Photographer B.K. Bangash was there. Here is his account.

The first explosion sounded like a tire had blown out on a bus but as I moved closer to see, another much stronger blast hit - sending dozens of people running as balls of flames, dirt and debris erupted into the night sky.

A police van was in flames, the streets were littered with the bodies of the dead. Arms, legs and other body parts were everywhere. I heard a man calling desperately for his son. He begged me to help, but the child was no where to be found. Later I heard the boy, a 6-year-old, was dead.

He was one of scores of people killed in a suspected suicide attack that struck Bhutto's procession as it made its way for more than 10 hours through the streets of Karachi after she returned from eight years in exile.

Moving at a snail's pace through a crowd of hundreds of dancing and cheering supporters, the truck carrying Bhutto was about 10 miles from the tomb of Pakistan's founding father, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, when the first explosion struck shortly before midnight.

I ran toward the truck and was about 20 yards away when the second thunderous blast hit. Most of the victims were men, many of whom had been driving alongside the procession on motorcyles, though I saw the bodies of at least two children.

Limbless victims cried out to strangers for help in the darkness. Parents frantically searched for missing children as the flames sent waves of heat through the streets, fanning the smell of blood in the air.

About 20 minutes later - it seemed like an eternity - the scream of ambulance sirens pierced the chaos.