At least 24 people have been killed and over 40 others injured in an explosion at Quetta Railway Station in Pakistan’s Balochistan province on Saturday. The blast occurred as a train was preparing to depart for Peshawar, Reuters reported.

According to Quetta’s Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Operations, Mohammad Baloch, the explosion “appears to be a suicide blast.” However, he stated it was too early to determine the cause definitively. He added that an investigation is ongoing to confirm the nature of the blast. SSP Baloch also noted that there were “around 100 people” present at the station when the explosion took place, citing video footage he had seen, as reported by Dawn News.

The blast occurred while passengers were waiting for a train to Rawalpindi, the garrison city. Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind confirmed that police and security forces had reached the site and were working to secure the area.

Rind stated that the Bomb Disposal Squad was collecting evidence from the scene to help identify the nature of the explosion. He also mentioned that the death toll was likely to rise as some of the injured passengers were in critical condition. An emergency was declared in local hospitals, and medical teams were providing aid to the wounded, he added.

Balochistan, the largest and most impoverished province in Pakistan, is home to separatist militants who have frequently targeted infrastructure, including energy projects with foreign investments, particularly from China. These groups accuse outsiders of exploiting the region’s resources while neglecting residents.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), one of the region’s prominent separatist groups, has claimed responsibility for several deadly attacks against security forces and Pakistanis from other provinces, particularly Punjabis. In August, the BLA took credit for a series of coordinated attacks that killed at least 39 people, one of the highest tolls in recent years.