One killed, 11 injured in twin blasts in Chennai

Chennai, May 1

One woman was killed and 11 others were injured when two bombs in two coaches of the Bangalore-Guwahati train blasted Thursday, barely 10 minutes after it entered the Chennai railway station, said officials.

“The blasts occurred in two coaches – S4 and S5- of the Bangalore-Guwahati train at around 7.15 a.m,” Inspector General of Police (Railways) Sheema Agarwal told IANS.

She said the injured have been admitted to a government hospital and the two coaches have been separated from the train for investigations.

Southern Railway General Manager Rakesh Mishra told reporters that 22-year-old Swathi from Guntur in Andhra Pradesh lost her life and two of the 11 hurt have suffered serious injuries.

The others injured are not in a serious condition.

Agarwal said the current priority is to see off the train and its passengers. Relatives of the injured passengers are here.

She said investigations are on and it was too early to say the kind of bomb that went off.

“We will be checking the passengers in the two coaches at a later date,” she said.

A person at the station told IANS: “The blast sound was not very loud. On seeing people running away from the train we knew something was wrong.”

He said there was not much of a damage to the rail coach and only a seat was damaged. Inside the compartment, the passenger baggages were strewn around.

Later, the police cordoned off the area, he said.

The police said closed circuit television pictures at Bangalore will also be checked.

Senior police and railway officials are at the railway station.

According to Mishra, an ex-gratia of Rs.100,000 has been announced for the kin of the dead, Rs.25,000 for those who suffered serious injuries and Rs.5,000 for those who suffered minor injuries.

The railways has set up a helpline number – 044-25357398.

(IANS)