Explosion Destroys Bridge In Same Area Of India Where Train Bomb Killed 38

Two days after 38 people were killed in a train bombing, a remote-controlled device destroyed a railroad bridge Wednesday in the same area of northeastern India.

No one was hurt in the explosion near Goreswar, 60 miles north of the Assam state capital of Gauhati.

No group has claimed responsibility for either blast, but police blame militants from the Bodo tribe. The state government has called in the army to help battle the militants, who have been fighting for a homeland for 20 years and claim their culture is threatened by Muslim immigrants from nearby Bangladesh.

Forensic experts recovered copper wires and batteries from the area, indicating that a remote-controlled device had set off the explosion, police said.

The blast tore out 26 feet of track and damaged two spans of the bridge over the Bornodi River, said S.P. Mehta, general manager of the state-owned Northeast Frontier Railways.

It also severed rail links with the remote northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which borders Tibet. Officials could not say when service would be restored.

The government ordered state police and paramilitary forces to patrol railway tracks passing through rebel strongholds.

Meanwhile, workers finished removing the wreckage of the express train and restored service Wednesday on the only rail line to the area through the narrow land route between Bangladesh to the south and Bhutan to the north.

Monday’s blast also injured dozens of people, 66 of whom are still in the hospital. Six are in critical condition.

Over the weekend, Bodo rebels allegedly blew up a road bridge linking Gauhati with the area of Monday’s blast, 35 miles away. Seven people were injured.