Bomb attack on Pak train kills six

Islamabad, Sep 26 (PTI) A powerful bomb on a railway
track derailed a passenger train in Pakistan's eastern Punjab
province Friday, killing at least six people, including a
woman and three children, and injuring 15 others.

The explosion occurred at 1 pm local time when the train
was heading to the city of Bahawalnagar, an official of the
Pakistan Railways said.

The blast left six people dead and 15 injured. Among the
dead were three children and a woman, who were killed on the
spot, witnesses said.

Local residents took the injured to nearby hospitals in
private cars. Hospital sources said six of the injured were in
critical condition.

"There was an explosion. The debris at the site indicates
that it was a bomb blast," Pakistan Railways General Manager
Nasir Zaidi told a TV channel.

No group claimed responsibility for the blast, which came
almost a week after a suicide bomber rammed a truck packed
with over half a tonne of explosives into the Marriott Hotel
in Islamabad, killing more than 50 people and injuring 266.

In Friday's blast, the three-coach train derailed about
15 minutes after it left the railway station at Hasilpur, a
small town in the area, an official said. Two coaches derailed
while the engine and another coach were not affected.

Senior police and railway officials rushed to the site of
the accident and monitored rescue and relief activities.
People had to cut through the twisted metal of the coaches to
pull out the injured.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza
Gilani condemned the blast and the killing of innocent people.

In a message, Zardari said such acts would not deter the
government's resolve to fight terrorism and extremism.

He said the perpetrators of such heinous crimes would be
brought to justice.

Gilani directed authorities to investigate the act of
sabotage and apprehend those responsible for it at the
earliest.