Assam: Train derails after blast, child killed

A six-year-old child was killed and 13 others, including two security personnel, injured when five bogies and the engine of the Kolkata-bound Garibrath Express were derailed after National Democratic Front of Bodoland militants blasted rail tracks in Assam's Kokrajhar district in the wee hours of Thursday.

 

The explosion took place hours after suspected NDFB militants blew up railway tracks at two places in Sonitpur district on Wednesday night. Rail traffic has been affected in the state due to the explosions. A red alert has been issued in Assam in view of the serial blasts, said the police.

 

The blast, triggered by an improvised explosive device, took place approximately at 2.25 am at Babuli between Gosaigaon and Chowtara in lower Assam, said the police.

 

The engine

and the first coach of the train were badly damaged in the explosion, railway officials said. A child, was identified as Durlav Chetia from Guwahati, was killed in the mishap. The injured have been admitted to a hospital in Alipurduar in West Bengal. The police have not ruled out the possibility of Maoists triggering the blast.

 

The general manager of the northeast frontier railways (Guwahati), along with senior officials, are at the spot, a railway spokesperson said, adding that the divisional general manager (Alipurduar) had reached there with a medical team.

 

Passengers have been sent by another train, while recovery vans from New Bongaigaon (Assam) and Alipurduar have been sent to the spot, he said.  

The banned group had threatened to target railway tracks and roads in Tezpur and Udalgiri districts, said the police.