11 July,2011 07:38 AM IST | | Agencies
At least 100 people were injured, 20 of them critically, when a powerful bomb ripped apart a passenger train in Assam. No militant group had claimed responsibility for the attack till the time of going to press.
A police spokesman said the explosion took place around 8.30 pm when the Guwahati-Puri Express was nearing Ghograpara in western Assam's Nalbari district, about 70 km from Guwahati.
Four coaches of the train derailed trapping scores of passengers, leaving many of them seriously injured.
"Flexible wires and other materials used to trigger the explosion were recovered from the accident site," a senior police officer said.
"There was a loud explosion and there was total chaos soon after. The coach in which I was travelling skidded of the track and fell in a marshy patch with waist-deep water. We somehow managed to come out of the coach," Jiten Das, an injured passenger said over telephone.
"I sustained cuts on my head and arms, besides a chest injury. Four of the coaches derailed and one of the bogies skidded and went at least 20 meters from the track," Dhanmoni Das, a local who helped severalu00a0 injured said.
"We rescued more than 100 people and helped them reach the nearest hospitals with the help of bicycles, motorbikes, and private vehicles," said Rubul Ali, another local who helped in the rescue operation.
The critically injured were shifted to the Gauhati Medical College Hospital.
"All medical help would be provided with teams of doctors and paramedics alerted to treat the injured passengers," Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
Rescue trains with doctors and paramedics reached the accident site later and all incoming and outgoing trains were suspended following the blast.
