Victims' families shattered by Peshawar blast

For Haroon Rashid, a teacher in Peshawar city in Pakistan, life could not have been more cruel.
He had survived a bomb blast year with severe injuries and had just collected his compensation cheque and was on his way back home when the bus he was travelling in exploded, killing him and 18 others in Peshawar yesterday.
With a compensation cheque for Rs 1 lakh in his pocket, Rashid wanted to restart his life after surviving the blast on a bus on the same route last year.
He was visibly happy, recalled his friend, and was dreaming of repaying his debts and getting his wife and two children new shoes and clothes.

Tragically, the dream didn't come true.
The 45-year-old took the dream to his grave.

He was among the dead in yesterday's bomb blast on board the bus carrying government employees on Charsadda Road, the Express Tribune reported.
Rashid was a teacher at the Government High School City No 4 Kakshal, in Peshawar. He had suffered serious injuries to his spinal cord in last year's blast on June 8, 2012.
He spent all his savings on the treatment of his wounds and ran into financial troubles.
"Today he had received a cheque for Rs 1,00,000 in compensation. He was very happy. He said he would repay his debts," his friend and colleague Jamal Nasir told the daily.

Before boarding the bus, he rang up his wife and told her that he would return home after depositing the money in a bank, Nasir said.
Facing financial hardship, Rashid had shifted his family to his native village of Umar Zai, in Charsadda, as he could not afford to keep them in Peshawar.
He commuted between Charsadda and Peshawar daily, even though doctors had advised him against too much travelling.
Yesterday's blast left his and many other families shattered.