Hub/QUETTA - At least 52 people were killed and over 100 injured when a bomb exploded at a Sufi shrine in Balochistan’s Khuzdar district Saturday evening.

The powerful explosion at Dargah Shah Noorani came shortly before Maghrab prayers when people were busy in witnessing dhamaal – a trance-like dance – at the widely visited sufi shrine.

One of the main reasons of the heavy casualties was that there was no nearby hospital in this remote hilly area, which is some 760 kilometres south of provincial capital Quetta.

The Khuzdar District Hospital, which is ill-equipped to deal with such a heavy emergency, is the only mentionable hospital in the district – which is relatively closer to Karachi, at distance of 150 kilometres.

The rescue teams reached the spot after facing enormous troubles had started shifting the deceased and injured to hospitals in Karachi and other health centres in Balochistan.

Darkness also added to difficulties as the electricity supply system of the shrine, which relied on private generators, too was made dysfunctional by the heavy explosion.

The Islamic State claimed the responsibility for the attack, terming it a ‘martyrdom (suicide) operation’. Khuzdar Commissioner also said it was apparently a suicide attack, though there was no word on the nature of the bombing from the security agencies.

Balochistan Home Minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti put the death toll at 45. There was no mobile phone service in the area which was causing difficulties in rescue operations, he added.

A local official told The Nation that the death toll had surged to 62 by 11am while around 100 people, including women and children, were injured which were being evacuated by the army and civilian rescue teams.

Earlier, Hakim Lasi, a rescue official with the Edhi Foundation, country’s largest welfare organisation, told a private TV channel the charity had received reports via wireless radio saying that up to 40 people had been killed and nearly 100 others wounded.

Local officials said worshippers were taking part in a devotional dance session, which is held daily before dusk, when the blast occurred.

From 500-600 people were at the shrine at the time of the attack, according to local official Tariq Mengal, who said there is more rush at the shrine on the weekend as many devotees travel to the site from Karachi on Saturdays and Sundays.

Shrine’s Khlifa (caretaker) Nawaz Ali said usually 1,000 to 1,500 people visit the shrine on Saturdays to witness dhamal and pay respects to the saint. Hashim Ghalzai, a local district commissioner, said the toll could rise further.

The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) spokesman said a huge number of women, children and men from Ibrahim Haidry area were attending the Dhamaal at the shrine and they were all out of contact.

Two platoons of the Frontier Corps have reached the shrine with medical and rescue equipment. Pakistan Army troops and medical teams from Karachi and Khuzdar had also been dispatched to the shrine, according to ISPR, which said Army Chief General Raheel Sharif had ordered max assistance for evacuation and on-spot medical treatment of the injured.

Sindh government had dispatched 50 ambulances and medical workers from Karachi, a three-hour drive on patchy roads from the blast site.

Balochistan government dispatched 25 ambulances from Hub to the shrine, said Home Secretary Akbar Harifal. Medical aid team were also sent from Lasbela to the area.

Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Khan directed Kalat commissioner and other authorities concerned to materialise all available resources for speedy rescue operation.

Earlier, National Party President Mir Hasil Bizenjo said the death toll will increase if the federal or Sindh governments did not provide helicopters for evacuating the injured.

Anwar Kakar, a spokesperson for the Balochistan government, confirmed to a TV channel that there were no helicopters available with the provincial government to evacuate the wounded.

PTI Chairman Imran Khan also demanded helicopter service to help rescuers save the victims, lamenting the loss of lives.

The ISPR DG tweeted that evacuation through aircraft was not possible since there was no landing strip in the area. However, he said the army will try to use helicopters. He said two medical teams, 50 soldiers and 20 ambulances had reached at the site.

In his earlier tweets he said that more time was being taken by the rescue and medical teams to reach the spot due to difficult terrain and long distance. Another 100 soldiers, four medical teams and 45 ambulances were also on their way. Sind Rangers ambulances and doctors were also on the move, he added.

Expressing grief over the loss of innocent lives, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack and directed the authorities concerned to bring the perpetrators to the task immediately. He also ordered speedy rescue services to save the lives of those injured in the attack.

In a statement released by its news agency, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility saying “thirty-five visitors of the Shia shrine were killed and 95 injured in a martyrdom attack by Islamic State fighters targeting the shrine in Baluchistan in Pakistan.”

Security sources said the role of the nexus of Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies cannot be ruled out as the notorious RAW and NDS wanted to create unrest and chaos in Balochistan and sabotage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). They noted that the attack came just a day before the formal inaugural ceremony of CPEC at Gwadar which scheduled for today (Sunday).

Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has oil and gas resources but is afflicted by militancy, sectarian violence and a separatist insurgency.

Local militants claimed to have worked with the Islamic State group to attack a police academy in Balochistan last month, killing 61 people in the deadliest assault on a security installation in Pakistan’s history.

In August, a suicide bombing at a Quetta hospital claimed by the Islamic State group and a faction of the Pakistani Taliban killed 73 people.