Death Toll in Train Bomb Rises to 38

SESAPANI, India —  Rescuers sliced and peeled the metal sides off the wreckage of an express train Tuesday, extricating the bodies of dozens of people killed a day earlier when two bombs detonated under the tracks.

Meanwhile, in an attack today, a rail bridge was blown up near Guwahati, the capital of Assam state. No injuries were reported in the latest attack, the third in four days. Another bridge was bombed Sunday, injuring seven people.

Authorities have blamed all three bombings on militants from the Bodo tribe who are seeking an autonomous homeland in the remote region of northeastern India.

At least seven children were among the 38 people who died in Monday’s attack. About 80 people were taken to hospitals by train. Many of the injured were in critical condition, said railway official S.P. Mehta.

Three of the train’s 19 cars--each crammed with up to 100 people leaving for the New Year holiday--were destroyed in the blasts about seven minutes after the train left Kokrajhar station in Assam state for New Delhi about 7 p.m. Monday, police said.

Darkness and the remoteness of the region initially hampered rescuers and compounded confusion over the number of dead. Soon after the explosions, a senior police officer in Guwahati said at least 300 people were believed dead.

Uncertainty over the number of casualties persisted Tuesday. A police spokesman in Kokrajhar said none of the estimated 160 passengers in the two sleeper cars that took the brunt of the explosions were believed to have survived.

No one claimed responsibility for any of the recent blasts, but police said Bodo militants have become more violent as rival factions compete for dominance.

The two bombs Monday were placed in a culvert and triggered from a distance of 800 yards, said I. Bishnoi, a police superintendent. Strands of wire were found near the track that may have connected the device to a battery-operated detonator.

“This kind of expertise is available only with the Bodo Security Force. The needle of suspicion is on them,” Bishnoi said. He was referring to the largest of several Bodo rebel groups fighting the Indian army in Assam state.

The Bodos have been struggling for a separate homeland for 20 years, saying their culture is threatened by Muslim emigres from nearby Bangladesh. In 10 years, at least 1,000 people have been killed in the violence.

The rescue was hampered by the lack of paved roads to the railway line, a 15-minute walk through teak and bamboo forests. Rescuers had to hack through the dense growth.

The blast severed the only rail line through the narrow land route between Bangladesh to the south and Bhutan to the north.

Residents of Sesapani, a Bodo village nearby, heard the blast and rushed to help the injured.