DERA GHAZI KHAN / LAHORE: Three passengers, a child among them, were killed and 20 others were injured when a bomb placed under rail tracks hit the Karachi-bound Khushhal Khan Khattak Express near Kotla Hassan Shah in Rajanpur district, on Friday morning.

The condition of seven of the injured was stated to be critical.

A railway official who was in the train said: “The blast was so powerful that the locomotive derailed and its fuel tank caught fire. Seven coaches were also derailed.”

He said the train coming from Peshawar was moving at low speed, otherwise the loss might have been immense.

The blast left a nearly five feet deep crater.

One of the rescuers, Dr Niaz, identified the dead as Attaullah (20) of Peshawar, Irfan (60) of Mardan and Salman (six) of Kandhkot.

Railway officer Razaq said a 300-foot portion of the track had been damaged.

According to BBC, the Baloch Republican Army claimed responsibility for the attack.