The blast hit two crowded coaches near a remote railway station in West Bengal state, about 665 km north of state capital Kolkata, Raj Kanojia, a top police officer, told Reuters.
"It seems to be a powerful bomb and the casualties could mount in the next few hours," Kanojia said.
The blast took place around 6.10pm when the train stopped at Belakoba station on its way to the tourist town of New Jalpaiguri.
Police and emergency workers were rushed to the area and hundreds of panic-stricken passengers were being evacuated.
"Some of the injuries are quite serious," Suresh Bhowmik, head of Jalpaiguri's district hospital, said by phone. "We are calling for reinforcements."
Rescuers were evacuating the injured in the dark and television pictures showed local villagers giving them a hand.
Dozens of injured passengers were crying for help when police reached the train, witnesses said.
"It was dark inside and I could not see anything other than pieces of human flesh and torn clothes," Sushil Shaw, a rescuer, told a local TV news channel. "The doors of one coach had been ripped off completely."
Police said they had no clues yet about who may have been behind the blast, but added that anti-India rebels from the neighbouring state of Assam and a local insurgent group, the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation, were known to have a presence in the area.
Terrorists are among the lowest forms of cowards in existence.
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
AntonioFP45 wrote: Terrorists are among the lowest forms of cowards in existence.
greetings,
Marc Immeker
Lionel collector, stuck in an N scaler's modelling space.
Absolutely! People who take the lives of innocent human beings for political or ideological reasons are nothing but scum in the gutter.
CANADIANPACIFIC2816
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