QUETTA, May 29: A complete strike was observed by employees of the Pakistan Railways on Thursday in protest against the killing of five people in the city’s Railways Guards colony and Joint Road area.

The provincial capital was cut off from the rest of the country with the rail service remaining suspended for eight hours.

The employees staged a sit-in outside the governor’s and chief minister’s houses. They raised slogans against the government.

Hundreds of railway employees refused to go to work demanding immediate arrest of the culprits.

The protesters gathered at the railway station and stopped departing trains, including the Faisalabad-bound Chiltan Express, Bolan Mail, Quetta Express and Jaffar Express.

All Quetta-bound trains coming from Karachi, Rawalpindi. Lahore and others areas of the country did not arrive on time.

The protesting employees suspended traffic on the Joint Road, burning tyres and putting barricades. They pelted official vehicles with stones.

Police removed barricades and restored traffic after some time.