At least 300 people taken hostage & dozens dead as bomb-vest wearing gunmen hijack packed train in Pakistan

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A DEADLY firefight broke out between separatist militants and security forces in Pakistan after 300 people were held hostage on a hijacked train.

At least 27 militants have been killed as gunmen wearing bomb-vests stormed the train.

Aerial view of people gathered near a train.

A doctor attends to a passenger injured in a train hostage situation.

A shocking video showed the moment a group horrifically ambushed the train while passing through a tunnel in the rugged Bolan district.

Terrified passengers were taken hostage and surrounded by men wearing vests covered in explosives.

450 travellers were travelling from Quetta to Peshawar before there were taken hostage on Tuesday.

The Baloch Liberation Army group claimed responsibility for the shocking attack.

Pakistani security forced engaged in a deadly battle, that has killed at least 27 militants, to rescue more than 150 people so far.

The group said it was ready to free passengers if authorities agree to release jailed militants.

The Pakistani government has previously reject these sorts of demands and a spokesperson said helicopters were backing up to help forces in the mountainous area.

The train was partially inside a tunnel when the militants blew up the tracks and immobilised the engine and its nine coaches, according to government spokesman Shahid Rind.

The driver was critically wounded by gunfire and guards aboard the train were attacked.

Rind added: "This is an act of terrorism."

Rescued passengers were on board the doomed Jaffar Express were rushed to hospital or pictured at nearby stations.

The BLA warned there would be "severe consequences" if an attempt was made to rescue passengers.

It warned the hostages and some captured members of the security forces were being guarded by suicide bombers

A traumatised traveller, Ishaq Noor, described his horror ordeal, according to the BBC.

Soldiers securing a railway station at night.

Passengers rescued from a train attack sit at a railway station.

Passengers rescued after a train attack in Quetta, Pakistan.

Noor was with his wife and two children and said they desperately attempted to shield their kids from the blast.

He said: "If a bullet comes our way, it will hit us and not the children."

Noor said: "We held our breath throughout the firing, not knowing what would happen next."

Muhammad Ashraf, was part of a group that was able to get off the train.

He said: "There was a lot of fear among the passengers. It was a scene of doomsday."

The BLA regularly targets Pakistani security forces, but has also in the past attacked civilians, including Chinese nationals working on multibillion-dollar projects.

China condemned the attack and foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said her country "will continue to firmly support Pakistan in advancing its counter-terrorism efforts".

The Balochistan region, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has long suffered from militant insurgencies.

Trains in the area typically have security personnel on board as members of the military often use trains to travel from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, to other parts of the country.

Militants have attacked trains in the past but have never managed to hijack one.

In November, The BLA carried out a suicide bombing at a train station in Quetta that killed 26 people.