Blast derails passenger train in Pakistan leaving six wounded, says official

Official says eight bogies, including a locomotive, derailed

Passengers and villagers in Nasirabad, Balochistan. AFP

At least eight people were injured when a bomb blast derailed a passenger train in the southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan on Friday, a local official said.

"Jaffar Express came under a bomb attack in Peshi area of Bolan district, eight people were injured and eight bogies derailed, including locomotive,” Deputy Commissioner Bolan Agha Samiullah said.

He said it was a remote-control explosion that derailed the train.

He said a rescue team was facing difficulties as the site was in a mountainous area.

Police had said that security and rescue teams were sent to the scene.

The incident comes a year after a bomb blast derailed four carriages of the Jaffar Express near Sibi. Six passengers were injured in the incident. The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army had claimed responsibility for the attack.

Balochistan, the south-western province bordering Afghanistan and Iran, has experienced several insurgencies since Pakistan's independence in 1947.

The mineral-rich province is home to some of Pakistan’s largest coal and natural gas reserves. Some of these reserves are being developed by China.