At least 55 people were killed and more than 100 others injured on Monday after a loud explosion ripped through a civil hospital in Quetta, Pakistan. Balochistan Home Secretary Akbar Harifal said the blast took place soon after lawyers and journalists gathered at the hospital following the death of the Balochistan Bar Association's president. Advocate Bilal Anwar Kasi was killed in a separate shooting early on Monday, according to Dawn.

Chief Minister of Balochistan Sanaullah Zehri accused India's intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing of carrying out the attack, while speaking to local channel Geo News. Zehri said the blast seemed to have been a suicide attack, but Balochistan Home Minister Sarfaraz Bugti said it was too early to ascertain the cause. "This was a security lapse, and I am having this personally investigated," he added.

Television reports showed chaos at the hospital following the explosion. A number of lawyers, including former president of the bar association Baz Mohammad Kakar, sustained injuries. Aerial firing could reportedly be heard on the hospital premises.

The police have cordoned off the area, and an emergency has been declared at hospitals in the city where several individuals injured in the blast are being shifted for treatment. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.