KARACHI, Pakistan (CNN) -- Two explosions killed at least 124 people and injured at least 320 Thursday in a suicide bombing near a motorcade carrying former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who returned to the country earlier in the day after eight years of self-imposed exile, hospital and police sources told CNN.
Bhutto and those with her were uninjured, and her companions said she reached her family home safely.
Video footage showed her exiting the bullet- and blast-proof vehicle after the explosions. She apparently was inside it, rather than on the roof of the vehicle, at the time of the blasts.
"I can see body parts strewn all over the road," said CNN's Dan Rivers, at the scene. "There are dead bodies everywhere. ... It is a large-scale attack, by the looks of things."
There were conflicting reports on whether there were one or two blasts and whether the bomb was in a car.
Authorities have found what they believe is the body of a suicide bomber, police told Rivers.
"The truck that Benazir Bhutto was riding on was surrounded by police cars -- so the suicide bomber could not get onto the truck and could not get anywhere near it, so he blew himself up and that has caused many casualties, mostly among the policemen who were riding beside the truck," Tariq Azim Khan, Pakistani information minister, told CNN.
Other officials said at least one bomb apparently had been placed in a car on the street, where Bhutto's supporters had gathered to see her convoy pass. One eyewitness told Rivers he saw a car explode with three people inside.
Video footage from the scene showed the street jammed with emergency vehicles, and injured victims writhing in the middle of the road. At least one fire appeared to have been sparked by the blast. Video Watch people try to help the injured at the chaotic scene »
Rivers and his crew were filming the motorcade just before the explosions.
"We remarked on how lax security was around her," Rivers told Blitzer after the explosions. "We got within touching distance of her vehicle. There was no security around, nobody stopping vehicles getting close to [the motorcade]."
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The windshield of the vehicle in which Bhutto was riding was smashed by the blasts, Rivers said, and a vehicle following hers was totally burned out. The scene, he said, was "absolutely horrendous," with blood literally running in streams down the street.
People's Party Leader Qasim Zia, who was riding on Bhutto's truck, told CNN one of his bodyguards was seriously injured. The injured included at least 20 leaders of the party, he said, and most of those killed were members of security forces or police who were surrounding Bhutto's truck at the time of the explosions.
Zia said there were heightened security measures in place and without them Bhutto could have been injured or killed.
Bhutto, 54, is a polarizing figure in Pakistan because some Muslims in the traditional Muslim nation object to a female leader and because of her pro-Western policies.
The party considers the incident an assassination attempt against Bhutto, officials said.
The bomb detonated as Bhutto's motorcade was nearing the tomb of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who led Pakistan to independence and championed equal rights for all Pakistani citizens regardless of their religion. Bhutto had planned to stop and pray at the tomb, then deliver a speech to her supporters.
The blasts confirmed fears of instability linked to Bhutto's return, which came after she reached an agreement with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf allowing her to seek re-election as prime minister. Many were bitterly opposed to that deal.
"This is what everyone feared," Rivers said.
A senior U.S. State Department official in regular contact with Pakistani security forces told CNN that if such a convoy had been in the United States, security officials would have planned safe havens and alternate routes throughout the journey.
However, he said, Pakistani security was unable to do so because of the sheer number of people who turned out.
"We did try to provide the maximum security that was possible and, in fact, that's why the majority of the casualties are among the police and the security forces," Khan told CNN.
Bhutto was provided with bullet-proof vehicles, he said, extra police vehicles and electronic jammers. But "with a very large crowd, obviously, there is no such thing as fool-proof security."
Khan said officials warned Bhutto to delay her return to Pakistan after she made comments about Pakistan working with the United States against terrorism and the Taliban. Bhutto decided not to delay.
"We had all suggested and advised Benazir Bhutto to delay her arrival because there were reports after her comments in Washington; there were reports here in the Pakistani press that some extremist elements were bent on hurting her, because she was seen as coming with an American agenda ... and she had been saying that she might allow Americans to operate from Pakistani soil," he said.
"Those comments were not taken very kindly here, certainly not in the border areas bordering with Afghanistan. And they had issued threats to her life. And she was given friendly advice that she must delay her arrival. But, obviously, she did not pay any attention to that advice," said Khan.
Bhutto told CNN just before returning to her homeland that she was aware of the risks and knew some people wished her harm, but "I'm prepared to take them."
She did, however, tell CNN Wednesday that she wrote Musharraf a letter naming those she feared would make an attempt on her life.
Threats against her, she said, were made by "certain people who have gained a lot through dictatorship. They have presided over the rise of extremism, they have created safe havens in the tribal areas of Pakistan for the Taliban and other militants and they fear my return."
The United States was swift to condemn what it called "terrorist attacks in Karachi during peaceful political demonstrations."
"There is no political cause that can justify the murder of innocent people," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said in a written statement. "Those responsible seek only to foster fear and limit freedom. The United States stands with the people of Pakistan to eliminate terrorist threats, and to build a more open, democratic, and peaceful society."
White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said, "extremists will not be allowed to stop Pakistanis from selecting their representatives through an open and democratic process."
Bhutto had vowed to help return democracy to Pakistan. She ended eight years of self-imposed exile and returned Thursday to her native country, where she was greeted by a massive crowd of supporters.
"I am aware of the threats for my security, and this has been discussed with [President] General Pervez Musharraf," Bhutto told CNN's Syed Mohsin Naqvi Wednesday.
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United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also issued a statement condemning the bombing.
The terrorist watch group IntelCenter said the death toll from the bombing places it among the top 10 deadliest terror attacks in the past
Home with a bang
Originally Posted by Husar
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