Bodies were spread around the site of the explosion as those people still able to help searched for more survivors.
A hospital staff member among the first to witness the aftermath has described what he saw.
"I was coming for my shift at the office. As soon as I reached the gate, there was a blast, and people came running out. I left my bike there, and, as I entered, I saw dead bodies scattered all over the place. There was blood all over, and injured people covered in blood. "
The blast struck the emergency department at the government-run Civil Hospital in Quetta, where the body of a known lawyer killed a day earlier was being held.
Bilal Anwar Kasi had been the president of the Balochistan Bar Association and was shot dead on his way to work at the city's main court.
Mourners, lawyers and journalists who gathered to accompany his body are now also among the dead.
Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif have travelled to inspect the situation and meet with survivors.
One lawyer caught up in the attack addressed the prime minister directly.
"Today, a technical game was played with us. After killing the head of our bar association, they knew that all the lawyers would assemble. We did, and the blast took place a few feet away from me. For God's sake, don't lose courage. The people of Balochistan are totally with you, believe me."
United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon has condemned the killings in a message delivered by spokesman Farhan Haq.
"The Secretary-General condemns the terrorist bombing at the civil hospital in Quetta, Balochistan province of Pakistan. The targeting of mourners at a civil hospital makes the attack particularly appalling. The Secretary-General urges the government to do its utmost to ensure the safety of the population and bring to justice the perpetrators of today's attack."
It is the latest in a number of attacks targeting lawyers in Quetta, and not the first on the Civil Hospital.
A journalist with the Balochistan Express newspaper, Saadulla Akhter, has told Al Jazeera News security questions are being raised.
"Security measures across Quetta city already were on high risk following the Independence Day celebrations. But still the security officials are trying to find out where the security lapse happened and how the suicide bomber succeeded to barge inside the hospital."
The south-western province of Balochistan borders Iran and Afghanistan and is affected by violence involving several different groups.
A faction of the Pakistan Taliban, recently added to the United States' list of global terrorist organisations, is said to have claimed responsibility for the attack.
The self-proclaimed Islamic State is also trying to take credit.
Authorities have yet to confirm the motive or who is behind the bombing.
Shashank Joshi is a London-based senior fellow with the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security studies, a research and policy group.
He has told Sky News Pakistan can be a dangerous place for lawyers.
"Lawyers doing their job in Pakistan means that they are enmeshing themselves in very messy political struggles. It's easy to make enemies, whether those enemies are the government itself or militant groups who may not like the person you defended, the person whose trial you're represented at, the person you prosecuted. It's very easy to make enemies with the wrong sort of person. And in an environment as, I won't say lawless, but as uncontrolled as parts of Pakistan, it's easy to settle these scores in very, very deadly, destructive ways."
Authorities fear, with such a high number of people injured, the death toll is likely to rise further.
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