Karachi, Nov 9: A suicide explosion tore through a Quetta railway station on Saturday, killing at least 24 people and injuring 53 more, according to Dawn reported quoting hospital and municipal officials.
The tragedy occurs one week after eight people, including five children, were killed in a bombing near a hospital and a girl’s school in the Mastung area of Balochistan.
Pakistan, particularly the Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, has seen a sharp uptick in terrorism-related incidents over the past year.
Quetta Division Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat confirmed the death toll, adding that the incident was a suicide blast. The railway authorities were being directed to suspend train services, he said.
Speaking to Geo News, he said that besides civilians, “some law enforcement” personnel were also martyred.
According to a list of injured people shifted to Quetta Trauma Centre and Emergency Department — issued by Managing Director Dr Arbab Kamran Kasi and available with Dawn.com — 53 people aged between 20 and 50 years were wounded.
Six of them were stated to be in a serious condition whereas three had been shifted to an intensive care unit.
The banned militant group Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for the blast.
Pakistan Railways had previously announced the restoration of train services between Quetta and Peshawar from Oct 11, after a suspension of more than a month and a half.
Train services had been suspended across the country on August 26 after a key railway bridge between Kolpur and Mach was destroyed in a blast carried out by BLA as part of province-wide coordinated attacks.
