t least 28 people were killed and 62 others were injured on November 9 when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Quetta railway station.

Hundreds of passengers were waiting to board the Jaffar Express, scheduled to depart for Peshawar at 9 am.

Talking to The News on Sunday, Ikhtiyar Hussain, 37, said: “The blast occurred around 8 am. I suffered several injuries in the explosion. I saw nothing but darkness and remember only the pungent smell of explosive material before losing my consciousness. When I regained consciousness, I was in a hospital.”

CCTV footage had a decent view of the explosion. Muhammad Ishfaq, a retired professor of the University of Balochistan, told TNS that he was entering the station, having purchased a ticket from the booking office, when the blast occurred. “There was chaos. People were screaming and crying for help,” he added.

The official and Edhi Foundation ambulances rushed to the spot and started taking the victims to the hospitals.

An emergency was declared at the Civil Hospital. Senior Health Department officials personally supervised the treatment of some victims. Relatives and friends of the injured also rushed to the hospital. 28 people lost their lives in the blast. Another 62 sustained serious injuries. More than 30 of the injured are still under treatment at the Civil Hospital and the Combined Military Hospital.

Following the attack, the train service from Quetta remained suspended for four days as the investigators swept the area for forensic evidence. Closed-circuit television footage was examined in an effort to construct a timeline of the tragedy.

Following the attack, the train service from Quetta remained suspended for four days and the investigators swept the area for forensic evidence. Closed-circuit television footage was examined to construct a timeline of the tragedy. The banned Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attack.

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif denounced the blast as did other political leaders. Later, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti jointly chaired a meeting to review the law and order situation.

The attack came 28 days after the tragedy in the Dukki district, where 21 coal miners were shot dead by terrorists.

Two weeks ago, nine people, including six schoolchildren, were killed in a bomb blast in the Mastung district.

This year, 733 incidents of terrorism, have claimed the lives of 271 people in various parts of Balochistan.

The upsurge in violence poses a big challenge for the Pakistan Peoples Party-led coalition government in Balochistan.

The writer is the bureau chief of Geo News, Quetta. He tweets @ejazkhan