2 killed, 22 hurt in train blasts near Delhi

The Frontier Mail blast victims's injuries were inflicted by explosives which are more sophisticated than country-made bombs.

This was disclosed by doctors at the Yashodhara hospital in Ghaziabad, where 14 seriously injured passengers were admitted following three blasts on the Amritsar-bound train between Sahibabad and Ghaziabad railway stations on Wednesday.

They said the patients, who received injuries mostly in the lower limbs and abdominal parts, have been hit by ''missiles''.

Two people were killed and 22 injured when three bombs went off within a gap of 20 minutes soon after the Frontier Mail left the Delhi railway station.

For 30-year-old Rajinder Singh, a resident of Delhi, it was a close brush with death.

Lying in the civil hospital bed in Ghaziabad, a dazed Rajinder Singh said he was hit by ''something'' in the legs following a massive bang. For a few seconds, he could not realise what had happened. Moments later, all he could see around were blood stains, people lying in unconscious state and some running in panic in the bogie.

''It was total darkness after that. What I could see was only smoke. A part of the train had been blown off by the impact of the explosions,'' he said.

He somehow managed to come out of the train only to be left bleeding for about half an hour before being taken to the hospital by the railway rescue workers who had by then arrived at the spot.

Rajinder Singh said, ''I saw two jeans-clad youths sitting right at the blast spot. They were the only ones who got off the train and I suspect they might be behind the explosion.''

Uttar Pradesh policeman Suraj Pal Singh, who was the only person to be injured in the first blast near Sahibabad, said, ''A parcel had been left unclaimed near one of the doors of my S-6 bogie. As I went to ascertain its owner and shook it twice, it exploded.'' He suffered eye injuries.

Another eyewitness Devinder Singh, travelling in the S-3 coach, said many of the injuries could have been avoided had the authorities acted swiftly and stopped the train soon after the first blast and carried out a security check.

Meanwhile, two of the injured were shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi as their condition deteriorated. Doctors at the Yashodhara Hospital said the condition of Japanese passenger Kayaia Yoshihisa and Australian Rodney Redden was also serious.

UNI