Six passengers die in train blast

Seven people were killed and eight were seriously injured when suspected Bodo militants caused an explosion in a metre-gauge train near North Lakhimpur in Assam on Thursday.

Railway sources said the blast occurred at 1015 hours in the 175 UP passenger train at Silonibari, 12 km from North Lakhimpur railway station, killing six people on the spot.

The train, plying between North Lakhimpur and Rangapara, was running at full speed when the explosion took place. It was, however, not yet known whether the blast occurred inside the train or on the track.

Meanwhile, explosions and the derailment of a train carrying oil marked the second day of the general strike called by the All-Bodo Students Union in Assam and life was paralysed in Bodo-dominated areas on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra.

Security has been beefed up throughout the state to frustrate the general strike called by the United Liberation Front of Assam on Friday, Independence Day.

A train carrying oil derailed after a broad gauge line was sabotaged near Dangtal station in Kokrajhar district by suspected Bodo militants on Wednesday night. Eight bogies derailed as a result, a report said.

Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta expressed anguish over the loss of life and extended his condolences to the bereaved families.