Ninth grade student dies preventing suicide bomber from entering school

A 15-year old Pakistani boy is being credited with saving his school from a suicide bomber when he confronted a suspicious person dressed in the school's uniform, preventing the bomber from detonating inside the school; the boy died when the bomber activated the bomb outside the school.

Ninth grader Aitizaz Hasan was outside the gate of the Government High School Ibrahimzai in the Hangu region of north-western Pakistan on Monday when he noticed a suspicious man between 20 and 25 years old who claimed to be a student. Another student who was with Aitizaz noticed the detonator and ran into the school, where 2,000 students were inside.

Hasan's cousin and fellow student Mudassar Hassan Bangish said that Aitizaz's friends tried to dissuade him from approaching the bomber. "So he told them 'I'm going to stop him. He is going to school to kill my friends.' He wanted to capture the suicide bomber. He wanted to stop [him]. Meanwhile the suicide bomber blasted himself which resulted in the death of my cousin."

Aitizaz's brother Mujtaba hailed his younger sibling's actions: "He sacrificed his life to save humanity." Student Atif Hussain also described the impact of the boy's sacrifice: "Aitizaz died for education and no one can snatch that right from us."

[BBC] [The Express Tribune]