‘Bloodbath’: Railway station bombing in Quetta, Pakistan leaves 26 dead
Al Jazeera
It was like ‘Judgement Day’, says one victim, after a suicide bomber targeted passengers waiting to board a train
Quetta, Pakistan — On Saturday morning, Ikhtiar Hussain, a senior ticket inspector for Pakistan Railways arrived at Quetta Railway Station in the country’s Balochistan province at about 8:25am local time (03:25 GMT), ready to board the train to start work.
Seconds later, Hussain heard a powerful explosion and fell to the ground. Shrapnel from the explosion had hit his right cheek, and his face started bleeding.
At least 26 people, including security personnel and civilians, were killed, and dozens were injured after a suicide bomber targeted passengers who were waiting for the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express on Saturday morning.
Hussain, 47, survived — but with wounds on his face and memories that will never fade.
“It was a view of Judgement Day, because in seconds people smiling at the station fell down on the ground in a bloodbath,” Hussain recalled to Al Jazeera from Civil Hospital Quetta, where he is receiving treatment for his wounds.
