Fifteen dead in blast on rail tracks in West Bengal (Second Lead)

KOLKATA - At least 15 people were killed when 12 bogies and the engine of a Mumbai-bound passenger train derailed after a huge explosion and were hit by a freight train in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district early Friday.

The accident took place around 1:30 a.m. between two railway stations near Jhargram, official sources and witnesses said.

No one claimed responsibility for the blast but it is widely believed to be the handiwork of Maoist guerillas.

The blast was so powerful that it pushed out the engine and 12 successive coaches of the Howrah-kurla Gyaneshwari Deluxe Express from the rail tracks, rudely jolting the sleeping commuters.

As the coaches fell over an adjoining track, two of them were smashed into by the goods train that was coming from the opposite direction.

The condition of the crew of the goods train was not immediately known.