Two passengers were killed and over 47 others injured when eight bogies of the Tata-Bilaspur passenger train derailed after Maoists blew up railway tracks in Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district on Thursday night.

Unconfirmed reports put the death toll at seven.

A relief train carrying 55 injured passengers arrived in Orissa in the wee hours this morning.

Area manager, Bondamunda Railway Yard, H K Padhee, who escorted the injured passengers, said that of the 55 injured, 32 were discharged after first aid, while the rest were admitted to the Ispat General Hospital and Government Hospital here.

He said two engines of the train had derailed, two bogies completely toppled over, while three had tilted.

The blast was so powerful that it ripped up the tracks on the up line, while the electrical circuit in the down line was damaged. "The down line was being restored, but it would take some time to restore the up track," Padhee said.

The injured passengers said they heard a very loud explosion.

Bholanath Sagar of Birmaharajpur in Orissa's Sonepur district said he heard a loud bang and saw two bogies being hurled off the track.

Local people came quickly to the rescue while the railway and administration took two hours to reach the spot, he said.

Railway minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier told PTI from Delhi that the train comprised 10 coaches.

The blast occurred between Manohar and Posoita railway stations just in front of the engine of the train, some 20 minutes after a pilot engine had passed.

Banerjee said, "Maoists blew up a portion of a railway track which caused the derailment. There were also three to four blasts nearby to deter rescuers."

Restoration Work Underway

Restoration work was going on in full swing on the damaged tracks.

Workers of the South Eastern Railway are trying to restore the downline first as only the power line snapped there and it would take less time to carry out the repair work, railway sources said here. It would take around two hours to restore the downline, they said.

Long distance trains like Lokmanya Tilak Express, Samarsata Express and Azad Hind Express were diverted to reach Howrah via Ranchi, the sources said, adding many local trains and Sambaleswari Express were cancelled.

A group of mediapersons, who tried to reach the blast spot from Rourkela, were not allowed to go there by the Jharkhand authorities who feared further attacks by the Maoists.

Of the injured 55 persons, 32 were released after first aid while 17 were admitted to the Ispat General Hospital here and six in Rourkela Government Hospital.

The condition of four persons admitted to the IGH was stated to be serious.

The CPI (Maoist) has called a 24-hour bandh in Jharkhand to protest the coming Assembly elections.