A bomb ripped through a crowded passenger train bound for the city of Karachi in southern Pakistan on Sunday, killing 10 people and injuring 30, officials said.
The train was pulling out of the station in Hyderabad, 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Karachi, when the bomb went off in a rear railway car, reported The Associated Press.
Troops promptly cordoned off the area while residents rushed victims to a nearby hospital, said the agency.
"The train was just leaving when there was a huge bang, smoke everywhere and people screaming," said a passenger, who identified himself only as Azim. He was traveling with his sister and her two children in the passenger car carrying the explosive device.
The rear of the railway car was a tangled mess of twisted steel.
"It was an act of terrorism, but it is premature to say who was involved," said Hyderabad police superintendent Moazim Jah Anzari. No one claimed responsibility for the explosion, according to the AP.
Four passengers died in the emergency ward of the hospital, while another four died within an hour. Another two passengers died later of their injuries, hospital officials said.
Doctors said the number of injured also increased as passengers arrived at the hospital with minor injuries, many of them with cuts and bruises. There were still several passengers considered to be in serious condition, they said.
The authorities were still trying to identify four of the dead, said the agency.
The hospital also declared an emergency, putting out an appeal for blood donors and calling in additional staff to help treat the victims.
In recent months, there have been several bombings in Pakistan. Most of the explosions have occurred in the eastern province of Punjab, the country's largest and most populous region.
However, Karachi, Pakistan's largest city of 14 million people located on the Arabian Sea coast, also has been a target.
Pakistani authorities have blamed many of the explosions on neighboring India, but the accusations have not been publicly backed by evidence, according to the AP – Albawaba.com
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
