At least 24 people were killed and nearly 70 injured after a powerful explosion targeted a train carrying military personnel in Balochistan province on Sunday morning, according to officials and local media reports.

The blast occurred shortly after 8am near the Chaman Phatak area of Quetta as the train was travelling from a military zone toward the city’s main railway station.

Authorities said the explosion caused severe damage to the railway track and partially damaged the train. Three coaches, including the locomotive, were derailed while two overturned following the blast.

The impact of the explosion was reportedly heard across Quetta and shattered windows and glass panels in nearby buildings. Several vehicles parked near the scene caught fire, with at least 10 vehicles damaged in the blast. Material damage was also reported in surrounding homes and buildings.

Emergency rescue teams, firefighters and security forces rushed to the scene soon after the attack, cordoning off the area and launching rescue and recovery operations. Firefighters worked to contain flames that spread to nearby vehicles after the explosion.

Authorities later declared an emergency in government hospitals across Quetta, with doctors and medical staff placed on high alert to treat the large number of injured victims.

The separatist militant group Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement, the group said its Majeed Brigade, described as its suicide attack wing, had targeted security personnel travelling from Quetta Cantonment in what it called a “well-planned fidayee attack”.

The group said further details regarding casualties and damage would be released later.

Following the attack, the Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express was halted at Quetta Railway Station as a precautionary measure.

Pakistan Railways Minister Hanif Abbasi condemned the bombing, describing it as a cowardly act of terrorism aimed at spreading fear and chaos in the country.

Abbasi alleged that anti-Pakistan elements based in India and Afghanistan were involved in attempts to destabilize Pakistan through such attacks. He said railway operations would continue despite the incident and vowed that those responsible would face justice.

Babar Yousafzai, spokesperson for Pakistan’s interior ministry, said all relevant institutions had been placed on high alert following the explosion. He urged residents to avoid gathering near the blast site to allow emergency teams to carry out rescue operations safely.

Counter-terrorism teams and explosives experts later arrived at the scene to begin technical investigations into the nature of the explosive device and identify those responsible.

The bombing is one of the deadliest incidents reported in Balochistan in recent months. The province has long faced insurgent violence, with separatist groups frequently targeting security forces, transport infrastructure and government installations.

A “largely negotiated” memorandum of understanding on an Iran peace deal would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. President Donald ​Trump said on Saturday, although the Iranian Fars news agency disputed that claim.

Trump posted on social media that the emerging agreement would reopen the strait, the vital shipping passage ‌whose closure has upended global energy markets since the U.S. and Israel launched the war on Iran in February. He did not say what else would be included in an agreement.

“Final aspects and details of the Deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

But Fars reported early on Sunday that the agreement would allow Iran to manage the strait and that Trump’s assertion on the strait was “inconsistent with reality.”

IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM IN FOCUS

U.S. news ​website Axios reported late on Saturday that the U.S. and Iran were close to a deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz with no tolls during a 60-day ceasefire extension, ​while Iran would be able to freely sell oil and negotiations would be held on curbing Iran’s nuclear program.

In exchange, the U.S. would lift its ⁠blockade on Iranian ports and issue some sanctions waivers on Iranian oil, Axios said, citing a U.S. official.

The draft agreement also includes commitments from Iran never to pursue nuclear weapons and to negotiate over ​a suspension of its uranium enrichment program and the removal of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, the Axios report said.

The New York Times reported that the proposed deal includes an “apparent commitment” by Iran to ​give up its highly enriched uranium. Details of how Iran would cede that stockpile would be left for a subsequent round of talks, the newspaper said, citing two unidentified U.S. officials.

Trump, while offering various war aims during the three-month-old conflict, has repeatedly said the U.S. struck Iran to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons. Iran has denied it is pursuing nuclear weapons and says it has a right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes.

Iran said on Saturday that it was ​working toward a memorandum of understanding on ending the war after its top officials met with Asim Munir, the army chief of Pakistan, which has sought to be a mediator.

The Pakistani army said the ​negotiations had resulted in “encouraging” progress. Two Pakistani sources involved in the talks said the deal being negotiated is “fairly comprehensive to terminate the war.”

Sources have told Reuters the proposed framework would unfold in three stages: formally ending the war, resolving ‌the crisis ⁠in the Strait of Hormuz and launching a 30-day window for negotiations on a broader agreement, which can be extended.

One of the Pakistani sources said that if the U.S. accepts the memorandum, further talks could take place after the Eid holiday ends on Friday.

Trump, whose approval ratings have been hit by the war’s impact on U.S. energy prices, said on Friday he would not attend his son’s wedding this weekend, citing Iran among the reasons he planned to stay in Washington.

‘ISSUES STILL NEED TO BE DISCUSSED,’ IRAN SAYS

Trump spoke on Saturday with leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Turkey and Pakistan. The leaders ​encouraged Trump to agree to the emerging framework, ​Axios reported.

A call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ⁠Netanyahu also went “very well,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Pakistan has aimed to narrow differences between Iran and the U.S. after weeks of war have left the vital Hormuz waterway closed to most shipping despite a nervous ceasefire.

“The trend this week has been towards a reduction in disputes, but there are still issues that ​need to be discussed through mediators. We will have to wait and see where the situation ends in the next three or four days,” ​said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson ⁠Esmail Baghaei.

Iran has demanded supervision of the strait, an end to the U.S. blockade on its ports and the lifting of sanctions on Iranian oil sales.

Baghaei said the issue of the U.S. blockade on Iran’s shipping was important, but that its priority was ending the threat of new U.S. attacks and the ongoing conflict in Lebanon, where Iran-allied Hezbollah militants are fighting Israeli troops who have moved into the south.

Pakistan’s army chief Munir left ⁠Tehran on Saturday ​after talks with Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi.

Qalibaf said Iran’s armed forces had rebuilt ​their capabilities during the ceasefire and that, if the U.S. “foolishly restarts the war,” the consequences would be “more forceful and bitter” than at the start of the conflict.

Despite weeks of conflict, Iran has preserved its stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium as well as missile, ​drone and proxy capabilities.

The death toll from a gas explosion at a coal ​mine in northern China’s Shanxi province has jumped to ‌90, state media CCTV reported on Saturday.

The gas explosion occurred late on Friday at the Liushenyu coal mine in Qinyuan county, ​with 247 workers on duty underground, state media Xinhua ​reported earlier in the day, according to Reuters.

Chinese President Xi Jinping ⁠called for authorities to “spare no effort” in treating the ​injured and conducting search and rescue operations, while ordering a ​thorough investigation into the cause of the accident and strict accountability in accordance with the law, according to Xinhua.

Premier Li Qiang echoed ​the instructions, calling for timely and accurate release of ​information and rigorous accountability.

Rescue operations were ongoing and the cause of the ‌accident ⁠was under investigation, according to the local emergency management authority in Qinyuan.

China has significantly reduced coal mine fatalities – often caused by gas explosions or flooding – since the early 2000s ​through more ​stringent regulations and ⁠safer practices. The Liushenyu incident, though, was one of the deadliest reported in China ​in the past decade.

Executives of the company ​responsible for ⁠the mine have been detained, Xinhua reported.

Earlier Xinhua had reported only eight dead, with more than 200 people brought safely ⁠to ​the surface. It did not explain ​the jump in the death toll.