At least 24 people were killed after an explosion derailed a train in southwest Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Sunday, officials said. A senior official told AFP that the train carried military personnel. The explosion also left more than 50 people injured.
The explosion took place on a railway track in the province’s capital, Quetta. The train was headed to the city’s cantonment area, 24 News reported.
The official told AFP that the train carrying army personnel and their family members was going from Quetta to Peshawar in Pakistan’s northwest.
Another official said that the army personnel were travelling to celebrate Eid, which starts on Tuesday.
A major fire occurred right afterwards.
Heavy gunfire was also heard, and authorities declared an emergency in several city hospitals.
Images of the attack show the train lying on its side, and people climbed over the wreckage searching for survivors.
Babar Yousafzai, a special assistant in the provincial home department, said security forces and rescue teams were quickly deployed to the scene as authorities worked to determine the cause of the blast.
According to the Balochistan Post, the Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack. The groups said that its subunit Majeed Beigade was behind, what they called the “highly organised fidayee attack”. Fidayee is the term for suicide attacks.
The news agency also said that about 30 people were killed and 70 were injured in the train.
Balochistan is a resource rich region and is part of a key corridor in the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor project. The region has been facing insurgent attacks from separatists who say Pakistan’s government exploited the province’s resources without benefiting the local population.
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