A large number of passengers were present at the time of the bomb blast at the railway station in Quetta on Saturday morning.
At the time of the blast, the Chaman passenger train was present on the platform, while many passengers of Karachi-bound Bolan Mail and Rawalpindi-bound Jafar Express were also waiting on the platform.
According to eyewitnesses, after the explosion, screams started everywhere, the injured were moaning in pain. Passengers’ luggage was scattered. The platform was stained with human blood and human organs were visible in places.’
‘My brother was also lying in the pile of dead bodies.
Sona Masih, who lost his brother Ayaz Masih in the explosion, said that ‘My brother was a supervisor in the railways, he left home for duty at seven in the morning. I immediately reached the station when I heard a loud explosion around 8:30. There was a very bad situation. There was shouting everywhere while injured and dead bodies were seen. My brother was also lying in the pile of dead bodies. He died on the spot.’
‘The explosion occurred while waiting for the train.
15-year-old Muhammad Umar, who was injured in the blast, said, “We came to Quetta to spend the summer.” At the onset of winter, he came back to the railway station with his family to go to his village in Jaffarabad, where he was waiting for the train at the railway station when the explosion occurred. After that there was smoke everywhere. After some time, people are lying injured or dead on the ground everywhere. I also got injuries on my right hand. The other four members of my family were also injured.
He said that there was a lot of rush at the station at the time of the explosion, railway employees, Qilli, women and children were also present.
‘I will do more treatment only after reaching Punjab.
Muhammad Ilyas, a resident of Lodhran, Punjab, despite being injured in the blast, did not go to the hospital and boarded the train while still injured and left for Punjab.
Before leaving, Mohammad Ilyas said that ‘I have eight women with me and I have to bring them home, so I will treat them more when I reach Punjab.’
He said that he worked as a farmer and had come to meet his relatives in Quetta and was returning. They were waiting for the train at the station when the explosion occurred. ‘I don’t know what happened after that, I also got a shoulder injury.’