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Journalism of Courage
Quetta Railway Station Bomb Blast News: At least 26 people were killed, and over 60 injured after an explosion tore through at the Quetta railway station in Pakistan’s Balochistan on Saturday morning, Dawn newspaper reported.
Initial findings point to a possible suicide bombing, Quetta senior superintendent of Police (SSP) operations Mohammad Balochwas quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
The banned militant outfit Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Preliminary reports indicate that the explosion took place at the railway station’s booking office. At the time of the blast, passengers were gathered at the platform before the scheduled departure of a Jaffar Express train to Peshawar.
SSP Baloch said that the number of victims could rise. Based on footage viewed by him, he added that “around 100 people” were present at the site, Dawn reported. The blast also damaged the platform’s roof.
The Pakistan administration was writing a letter to the railway authorities to suspend train services, Baloch said.
Rescue and law enforcement teams reached the site immediately and secured the area, according to the provincial government spokesperson Shahid Rind. The injured and deceased have been shifted to Quetta’s Civil Hospital.
An emergency was declared at the hospital where additional medical staff was summoned to deal with the injured, Rind added.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti condemned the attack, terming it as “a horrific act targeting innocent civilians”, and ordered an immediate investigation.
He said that terrorists are increasingly aiming civilians, labourers, women, and children, and vowed that those responsible would be pursued relentlessly.
“Terrorists are not eligible to be called humans. They have fallen from humanity; they are worse than animals,” Bugti’s statement read, as per Dawn.
Train services in Pakistan between Quetta and Peshawar resumed October 11, after a suspension of more than a month and a half.
Pakistan Railways had suspended train services across the country on August 26 after a Kolapur-Mach railway bridge was destroyed in another blast by the BLA as part its province-wide coordinated attacks.
— With inputs from PTI and Dawn
