India train bomb kills 10
A bomb exploded on a crowded passenger train in northern India today, killing at least 10 people and injuring 49, a railway official said.
“The death toll now is 10,” said Rajendra Singh, a senior railway official in Uttar Pradesh state, where the explosion occurred.
At least 49 others were wounded in the explosion near the town of Jaunpur, about 400 miles east of New Delhi.
Singh said the toll was likely to rise further because the condition of eight injured passengers in the blast was serious. They have been shifted to a hospital in the city of Benaras. Others were being treated at local hospitals, he said.
All passengers were evacuated and the train was searched by railway police, Singh said. The bomb was apparently hidden in a bag near the door of an unreserved coach, he said, without elaborating.
In New Delhi, R.K. Singh, the top official for Indian Railways, told reporters that forensic experts have been sent to the scene to ascertain the nature of blast.
The explosion delayed some trains travelling on the same route, but did not cause much disruption to rail traffic, he said.
The train was travelling from the eastern city of Patna, capital of eastern Bihar state, to New Delhi.
Earlier today, police found a suitcase packed with 18 small bombs inside a passenger train car in eastern Bihar state, said Uday Kant Jha, a railway official in Patna, the state capital.
He said those bombs did not appear to be linked to the Jaunpur train blast, though he gave no details.
The suitcase, which was apparently being used to transport the bombs, was found while the train was sitting in Gomoh station, he said. Four people were detained in connection with the suitcase and were being questioned.
