71 killed as Maoist attack Mumbai-bound train

Saibal Gupta
Jhargram (WB), May 28 (PTI) At least 71 passengers of
a Mumbai-bound express train were killed when Maoists derailed
it in the wee hours of Friday with five of the 13 coaches that
jumped the tracks also being hit by an oncoming goods train.
150 passengers were also injured in the derailment of
of the Howrah-Kurla Lokmanya Tilak Gyaneshwari Super Deluxe
Express in West Midnapore district, about 150 kms from eastern
Indian metropolis Kolkata at around 1:30 am, when the train
was running between Khemasoli and Sardiya stations, South
Eastern Railway officials said.
Railway officials said bodies of 71 persons have been
recovered so far from the train wreckage.
Several passengers are feared trapped in the worst
smashed S-5 compartment of the train which bore the brunt when
the speeding goods train ploughed through the derailed
coaches. Officials feared that the death toll could go up.
Five of the derailed carriages that slammed into the
goods train were badly crushed and flipped on their sides with
body parts clearly visible amid the twisted metal.
Rescue workers with bolt cutters struggled to free
anyone still alive inside.
There was confusion on the exact cause of the disaster
in the Maoist stronghold with Railway Ministerof India Mamata
Banerjee blaming it on a "bomb blast" at the rail track while
top brass of the West Bengal Police said it was an act of
sabotage since fish plates were found removed.
DGP Bhupinder Singh, who said blast theory was yet to
be established, also said pendral clips which are used to hold
sections of tracks together were found missing over a 50-metre
stretch at the accident spot. Some passengers also said they
heard no blast. "It is a clear case of sabotage. The Maoists
have done it," Singh said.
Union Home Minister P Chidamabaram said in New Delhi the
disaster appeared to be an act of sabotage, but it was not yet
clear whether explosives were used in the blast.
Mamata said TNT explosives and gelatine sticks were also
found at the accident site. Railway General Manager A P Mishra
too said these materials were found on the tracks.
She said a patrol engine had passed through the disaster
spot half an hour earlier, but the timing of the blast proved
disastrous with a portion of the line being blown away.
IGP (Law and Order) S Karpurakayastha told PTI in Kolkata
that Maoist-backed People's Committee against Police
Atrocities (PCPA)has left two posters near the rail tracks
"clearly owning responsibility" for the derailment. The attack
came as the Maoists observe a 'Black Week'.
A PCPA spokesman Asit Mahato later denied the group's
involvement.
Five of the 13 derailed coaches fell on an adjacent
track and were hit by a goods train coming from the opposite
direction, Additional Superintendent of Police, Jhargram,
Mukesh Kumar said.
Of the injured persons, 78 were admitted to the Kharagpur
Railway Hospital, 39 to the Midnapore State General Hospital
and 25 to Kharagpur Government Hospital.
Some of the injured were treated beside the track while
the most serious cases were evacuated by IAF helicopters.
PTI SAG
KAB


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