'My room has been blown up'

By SCOTT MacLEOD, ANGELA GREGORY, RICHARD BOOCK and NZPA

Dayle Shackel had just sat down in the tour bus when a bomb blast punched him to the floor.

The New Zealand cricketers' physiotherapist was opening curtains beside his seat when the explosion about 50m away in the street sprayed blood and body parts outside the team's hotel in Pakistan.

"The glass exploded all around me and I wondered what the hell to do next," said Shackel, who suffered a cut elbow.

At least 12 people died and 18 others were hurt in yesterday's blast, which happened when a terrorist drove a car into another bus in Karachi, detonating a bomb at 1.45pm NZ time.

None of the Black Caps was hurt, but the team have abandoned their 21-day tour of Pakistan, raising questions about whether they should have been there at all.

No one has admitted responsibility for the blast, but some Islamic groups are angry that Pakistan's President, General Pervez Musharraf, has supported US bombings in Afghanistan.

Ten of the dead were understood to be French nationals working on a submarine project.

Shackel was in the New Zealand team bus in a secure part of a carpark when the blast happened outside the Sheraton Hotel, opposite the Pearl Continental, where the Black Caps were staying.

Inside, New Zealand players were eating breakfast or packing gear for the start of the second test when hundreds of windows shattered.

It was 7.45am local time, and within seconds the wealthy southern neighbourhood erupted in sirens and yelling.

The Black Caps evacuated the building and went to a nearby carpark, where they quickly set up conference calls with officials and family in New Zealand.

Robbie Hart's mother, Dot, said from Te Puke that she had felt sick when the tour was announced because of the danger.

Her son told her the blast threw him out the door of his room.

"He told me, 'My room has just been blown up'. It gave him a terrible fright. I just thank God he is alive."

All-rounder Chris Harris could think only of his wife, Linda, and their young child.

"The first thing you think of is your family, my wife and baby," he said. "You don't want her to grow up without a father. It puts your life in perspective in a hell of a hurry."

Cricket commentator Bryan Waddle, who has experienced two previous bomb blasts, in Sri Lanka, said he heard "that sudden thud that you know is only a bomb".

Such attacks were hard on the players' families, he said.

"When there's loss of life, when there's devastation like we've seen here, cricket doesn't mean as much as human life to the players," he told the Holmes television show last night.

"You just can't go on and play cricket. You just have to go."

Within two hours, New Zealand Cricket decided that the team would come home on the first available flight. They are due in Auckland tomorrow morning.

Manager Jeff Crowe said from the Sheraton carpark that there had been several bombings in Karachi in the previous few days, and yesterday's blast was probably not aimed at the team.

Players were shocked by the force of the bombing, and were in no shape to play a test, he said.

Coming home was the right decision, although it would cause contractual and commercial problems for the Pakistan Cricket Board.

"They've put a lot of work and energy into making this tour a success, and it must be a huge disappointment that it's ended up like this," Crowe said.

"It was a huge blast by anyone's standards, and the area around the hotel is just littered with debris, smoke and bits and pieces of cars, buses - an entire undercarriage was blown down the street."

The Black Caps were being thrashed on the tour. They lost all three one-day internationals and crumbled in the first test to their worst loss, an innings and 324 runs.

It is the third time bombings have wrecked New Zealand cricket tours.

In 1987, a tour of Sri Lanka was abandoned after one test when a bomb killed 100 people in Colombo.

In 1992, also in Colombo, a suicide bomber killed a Sri Lankan Navy officer outside the team's hotel. Coach Warren Lees and five players flew home.

Bombings are always a concern for the team, and Crowe flew to Pakistan two months ago to check security arrangements.

Shaken relatives of the cricketers yesterday had mixed views on whether the tour should have continued.

Daryl Tuffey's mother, Dian, said her son was clearly shaken after seeing death and body parts.

Mrs Tuffey said NZ Cricket had done all it could, but she now thought Karachi was not a suitable place to tour.

The first thing Bernie Styris heard from his son Scott was a text message reading "All OK".

Bernie Styris said: " They were only allowed back to their rooms to see what they could salvage."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has started reviewing its travel advice.

Spokesman Brad Tattersfield said the ministry had already warned New Zealanders to be careful in Pakistan.