Time bomb kills 10 on Pakistani commuter train, authorities said

Doctors treat an injured child after a bomb ripped through a crowded passenger train on Sunday in Hyderabad, Pakistan

July 17, 2000
Web posted at: 12:45 a.m. HKT (1645 GMT)

In this story: Smoke and a huge bang Bombers have struck throughout Pakistan RELATED STORIES, SITES

HYDERABAD, Pakistan -- Ten passengers were killed and at least 30 injured Sunday in southern Pakistan when a time bomb exploded on a crowded commuter train bound for Karachi.

The train was just pulling out of the station at Hyderabad, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) north of Karachi, when the bomb went off.

The explosion turned the carriage into a tangled, twisted mess. No one claimed responsibility for the blast.

"It was an act of terrorism, but it is premature to say who is involved," said Hyderabad police superintendent Moazim Jah Anzari.

Authorities have ordered a high-level police investigation, and security at railway stations has been tightened, the official news agency APP reported. Hyderabad is the second largest city in the volatile southern province of Sindh.

Smoke and a huge bang

A railway official at Hyderabad station told Reuters someone placed the timed device under a seat in the crowded seventh coach of a nine-car train, which was headed for Karachi, Pakistan's largest city.

"The train was just leaving when there was a huge bang, smoke everywhere and people screaming," said a passenger who identified himself as Azim.

Among the dead were a 5-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy, ambulance workers said.

Several passengers were thought to be in serious condition. The number of injured kept rising Sunday as passengers reported to an area hospital. Many had cuts and bruises.

The hospital declared an emergency, putting out an appeal for blood donors and calling in additional staff to help treat the victims.

Volunteers tend to an injured passenger on Sunday in Hyderabad, Pakistan

Bombers have struck throughout Pakistan

More than a dozen bomb blasts have been reported in Pakistan this year.

Several occurred in Sindh, which has a history of political and ethnic violence. Most exploded in the eastern province of Punjab, Pakistan's largest and most populous region.

Others also have occurred in Karachi on the Arabian Sea coast.

Pakistani authorities have blamed many of the blasts on neighboring India, but the accusations have not been supported by evidence. At odds for decades, Pakistan and India routinely accuse each other of sabotage.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Islamic Republic of Pakistan
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