5 killed, 18 injured in blast at railway station in Balochistan

Islamabad: At least five persons were killed and 18 others injured when a powerful bomb went off at a railway station in the restive Balochistan province of southwest Pakistan on Wednesday, officials said.

The bomb, hidden in a tea stall on the platform of Sibi railway station, was triggered by remote control late on Wednesday night while the Jaffar Express train was at the station.

"Five persons, including a railway policeman, were killed and 18 were injured. Eight of the injured are in a critical condition," Deputy Commissioner Shahid Saleem Qureshi told the media.

Preliminary investigations had shown that the bomb was triggered by remote control, Qureshi said.

Security forces cordoned off the area after the blast.

The Jaffar Express was going from Rawalpindi to Quetta. No group claimed responsibility for the blast though such attacks are usually blamed on Baloch nationalist groups.

• Also See