Footage of fire incident in Karachi falsely linked to BLA's train hijacking
The Verdict [False]
The viral video shows a fire incident in Karachi and is unrelated to the recent BLA train attack.
What is the claim?
Social media users have circulated a video depicting a fire raging across a large area with claims that it shows scenes from the recent attack and hijacking of a passenger train by the separatist group Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).
The viral claim surfaced on social media platforms such as YouTube, X, and Instagram after BLA attacked and hijacked the Jaffar Express train, which was traveling from Quetta to Peshawar on March 11, 2025.
Some of these videos also have text overlaid that reads, “Pakistan Train Hijack: Baloch militants seize Peshawar-bound Jaffar Express, hold 450 passengers hostage.”
An X user shared the video and wrote, “Baloch Liberation Army hijacked Jaffar Express going from Quetta to Peshawar in Pakistan More than 400 passengers were on the train BLA said that if Pakistan takes military action, they will kill all the passengers #TrainHijack #Balochistan #Pakistan (sic).” At the time of writing this story, a similar post on X had amassed over 378,000 views and more than 2,100 likes.
Archived versions of this and other posts can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Screenshots of similar viral social media posts. (Source: X/Instagram/YouTube/Modified by Logically Facts)
However, we found that the video is from a fire incident in Karachi and is unrelated to the recent BLA train attack.
What are the facts?
We conducted a reverse image search on one of the viral video's keyframes and found multiple identical videos reporting a recent fire incident in Karachi.
An Instagram video (archived here) uploaded by Geo News English on March 10, 2025, featured identical visuals to those of the viral video. This video was captioned, "A fire broke out near Mir Chakar area in Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Maymar on Monday. The cause of the blaze remains unknown. #GeoNews #Karachi."
View this post on Instagram
At the timestamp of 20 seconds of the viral video, a similar shed, a tree on the left side, and a steel sitting table can be observed at the 0:07 timestamp in the Geo News English video. The surrounding visuals and elements confirm that the viral video originates from Karachi, not the recent train attack site.
Similarities between the viral and Geo News video. (Source: X/Instagram/Geo News/Modified by Logically Facts)
With the help of keyword searches, we found multiple news reports that featured visuals identical to those in the viral video (archived here and here). According to these reports, on March 10, 2025, a fire erupted near the Karachi Super Highway, which subsequently spread to the nearby timber shops and engulfed the entire market near the Maymar Mor area (archived here).
Furthermore, no news reports linked the Karachi fire incident to the recent BLA passenger train attack.
The verdict
A video of a fire incident at a market in Karachi has been falsely shared as scenes from the recent passenger train attack by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
