100 injured as Puri Express derails after blast in Assam

At least 100 passengers of 15640 Dn Puri Express were injured when four bogies derailed and four more overturned after a powerful blast near Rangiya in Lower Assam's Kamrup district around 8.20 p.m. on Sunday.

Earlier, the train, bound for Puri, departed the Guwahati station at 6.45 p.m. It left the Rangiya station at 8.05 p.m. and the blast occurred 7 km away, at Bhatkuchi.

Passengers and local residents said they heard a deafening sound just before the derailment.

The injured included pilgrims bound for the Jagannath temple at Puri.

S. Hajong, Chief Public Relations Officer, Northeast Frontier Railway, toldThe Hinduthat the derailment was caused due to a powerful bomb blast.

The derailment occurred at Bhatkuchi between the Rangiya and Ghagrapar stations. The condition of several passengers was stated to be serious. A large crater was created on the track due to the impact of the remote-controlled blast. Train movement along the route was disrupted.

No outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the blast. The four derailed bogies were just behind the engine.

Shocked and traumatised injured passengers who included a number of children and women had to wait on the tracks for more than one-and-half-hour for rescue teams to reach the site and evacuate them to hospitals.

Senior railway officials, accompanied by rescue teams, rushed to the spot. But before they could arrive, the local residents gave the injured first aid.