At least 14 killed, 20 injured in suicide bombing targeting train in Quetta: Balochistan govt

QUETTA: At least 14 people were killed and 20 others were injured after a blast caused by a vehicle-borne suicide bombing tore through a shuttle train in Quetta on Sunday morning, the Balochistan government said. 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. In a statement, Shahid Rind, an aide to the chief minister on media and political affairs, said the “number of martyrs” in the blast has reached 14. These included three personnel of the Frontier Corps, he added. “Multiple people” were injured in the blast, including women and children, who were taken to a hospital, Rind said. “Terrorists targeted innocent civilians,” he said, adding that security forces have cordoned off the area. Rind said the targeting of public places was a “proof of the terrorists’ confusion”. The nature of the explosion could not be immediately ascertained. It is feared that casualties could be much higher. The police, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and the bomb disposal squad had reached the incident site to collect evidence. 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. The blast was loud enough to be heard in various distant areas of the city and caused damage to nearby buildings. A fire reported to have sparked in nearby cars was controlled after intense efforts involving multiple fire brigade vehicles. Images showed a mangled train carriage on its side as people clambered over the wreckage to find survivors. People could be seen carrying blood-soaked victims on stretchers away from a derailed car, while armed security forces stood guard. One video showed about 10 vehicles, mostly small cars, charred as fire and black smoke emerged from some of them. Multiple ambula