Several feared killed as blast hits train near Quetta’s Chaman Phatak

QUETTA: Several people were feared killed and many others injured after a powerful blast struck a shuttle train near Chaman Phatak in Quetta on Sunday morning, causing multiple coaches to derail and triggering a major rescue operation, officials said.

According to state-run APP, citing railway authorities, the shuttle train was travelling from Quetta Cantonment to the city’s railway station when the explosion occurred shortly after 8am.

The exact nature and cause of the blast could not immediately be determined.

The explosion derailed at least three coaches, including the locomotive, while two coaches overturned, according to railway officials. The blast also damaged nearby houses and set several vehicles on fire.

Video footage circulating on social media showed thick plumes of smoke rising from the site, overturned train coaches and multiple burnt vehicles as rescue workers and ambulances rushed to the area.

Security forces quickly cordoned off the area following the incident, while rescue teams, police, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and bomb disposal squad personnel launched emergency and investigation operations at the scene.

Pakistan Railways said rescue trucks and a relief train had been dispatched to assist with rescue and recovery efforts.

In a statement shared on the Balochistan government’s official X account, spokesperson Shahid Rind confirmed that several lives had been lost in the incident and 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 said.

Rind added that Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti was personally monitoring the situation.