An explosion at a remote Sufi Muslim shrine in the Pakistani region of Balochistan has killed at least 50 people and injured more than 100, officials say.
The Islamic State group later claimed responsibility for the suicide attack at the shrine of Sufi saint Shah Bilal Noorani in the south western province of Baluchistan.
Abdur Rasool, an official at the province's home ministry, said rescuers were transporting the wounded to hospitals and the dead to local morgues, but were struggling in the difficult mountainous terrain, some 217 miles south of the provincial capital, Quetta.
The blast targeted worshippers as they were in the throes of their devotional "dhamal" dance, and the courtyard at the time was packed with families, women and children.
The Islamic State group's statement on the IS-affiliated Aamaq news agency said the suicide attack had targeted "Shiites".
The shrine is frequented by both Pakistan's Sunni Muslim majority and Shiite minority. IS considers all Shiite Muslims heretics.
The blast comes ahead of the prime minister Nawaz Sharif's pre-planned trip to the province on Sunday, where he will see off the first Chinese shipping consignment to Africa from Gwadar port.
Baluchistan home minister Sarfaraz Bugti, citing a lack of mobile phone services in the affected area, said the situation will be much clearer in the morning. He said over 500 people were present in the courtyard of the shrine when the blast happened.
Abdul Hakim Lasi, an official with the Edhi Foundations rescue service, said many of the injured were wounded in a panicked stampede after the blast.
One female witness, who was not identified by name, told the GEO television channel that a "big bang" took place in the midst of the dhamal dance in the shrine's courtyard.
"I don't know how I escaped unhurt," she said. "It was like a hell all around."
A doctor at an area hospital told a local television station that the number of wounded being brought in had overwhelmed the hospital's capacity.
"We don't have sufficient space so several people were treated outside on the ground," the doctor said adding that: "Several wounded people have lost limbs."
A military statement said that four army medical teams and 45 army ambulances had been dispatched to the scene to assist.
Last month IS claimed responsibility for an attack in which three Islamic militants stormed a police academy in Quetta, killing 61 people, mostly cadets and trainees. Later, the banned sectarian militant group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed joint responsibility.
For over a decade, Baluchistan province has been the scene of a low-intensity insurgency by nationalist and separatist groups demanding a bigger share of regional resources.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel