QUETTA; A powerful explosion on a railway track in Balochistan’s Mastung district derailed six coaches of the Quetta–Peshawar Jaffar Express on Sunday, officials said.
The blast occurred near Spezand station in Dasht tehsil shortly after the train departed Quetta at 9 a.m. with 350 passengers on board.
Pakistan Railways’ Quetta division spokesperson Muhammad Kashif said the bomb, planted on the track, exploded with a loud blast, but no casualties were reported.
Security forces and rescue teams quickly reached the site, cordoning off the area and launching a search operation. Four derailed bogies have been restored to the track, with work ongoing to clear the remaining two and repair the damaged section within hours.
All passengers were safely transported back to Quetta via a relief train, with tickets refunded. Railways announced that services of the Jaffar Express and Bolan Mail have been suspended until August 14, with Bolan Mail resuming operations from Karachi on August 16.
The incident comes amid a spate of militant attacks targeting railway infrastructure in Balochistan. Just three days earlier, a Quetta-bound Jaffar Express narrowly escaped a blast in Sibi, while past months have seen several derailments and track bombings across Sindh and Balochistan.
In March, the same train was hijacked in Sibi, leaving 25 dead before security forces killed all 33 assailants in a two-day operation.
