QUETTA: The Balochistan government confirmed several lives were lost after a blast tore through a shuttle train near Chaman Phatak in Quetta on Sunday morning.
State-run APP, citing railway authorities, said the shuttle train was heading from Quetta Cantonment to the railway station when it was targeted near Chaman Phatak shortly after 8am.
The nature of the explosion could not be immediately ascertained.
In a statement on the provincial government’s official X account, CM’s aide Shahid Rind condemned the “targeting of innocent civilians”.
“We are deeply saddened and grieved by the loss of precious human lives. Terrorist elements deserve no leniency,” he added.
Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti was personally monitoring the situation, according to the statement.
A medical emergency has been declared in Quetta’s hospitals, with all doctors, paramedical staff, and medical personnel summoned to duty, it added.
“The involved elements cannot escape the law,” Rind was quoted as saying, adding that the injured were being provided the best treatment facilities.
Pakistan Railways said rescue trucks and a relief train were dispatched to the site to assist in emergency operations.
The explosion derailed three coaches, including the locomotive, while two coaches overturned, APP reported.
Security forces immediately cordoned off the area and launched a rescue operation, it added. The blast was loud enough to be heard in various distant areas of the city and caused damage to nearby houses.
A fire reported to have sparked in nearby cars was controlled after intense efforts involving multiple fire brigade vehicles.
One video showed about 10 vehicles, mostly small cars, charred as fire and black smoke emerged from some of them. Multiple ambulances could be seen arriving at the site in another video.
Earlier footage showed huge plumes of smoke rising from a raging fire, with at least one train coach turned over at a short distance.
The police, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and the bomb disposal squad reached the site of the incident to conduct investigations.
CM Bugti strongly condemned the “terrorist attack”.
“The terrorists of Fitna al Hindustan are proving their savagery by targeting innocent civilians, women, and children,” Bugti wrote on X.
The state has designated Balochistan-based terrorist groups as Fitna-al-Hindustan to highlight India’s alleged role in terrorism and destabilisation across Pakistan.
“Let the enemy hear this: there will be no safe haven left for terrorists in Balochistan. We will hunt down the terrorists, their facilitators, and their masterminds one by one and bring them to justice, and this war will continue until the last terrorist is eliminated,” Bugti vowed.
Railways Minister Hanif Abbasi also condemned the “cowardly act of terrorism”, adding that it would not weaken the nation’s resolve against militancy.
In a statement, Abbasi said that “anti-Pakistan elements operating from India and Afghanistan were sponsoring terrorism to destabilise the country”.
The minister directed the authorities concerned to submit an immediate report on the incident.
He further reaffirmed that Pakistan Railways’ operational activities would continue without interruption despite the attack.
Abbasi said hostile forces were involved in malicious activities aimed at spreading unrest and fear in Pakistan.
Slamming terrorists as “enemies of humanity”, the minister asserted they would be “brought to a disgraceful end”.
“Terrorist networks operating from India and Afghanistan would never be allowed to succeed in their nefarious designs against Pakistan,” Abbasi said.
This is a developing story that is being updated as the situation evolves. Initial reports in the media can sometimes be inaccurate. We will strive to ensure timeliness and accuracy by relying on credible sources, such as concerned, qualified authorities and our staff reporters.
