The blast, which occurred at 9:15 pm shortly after a pilot engine passed, came hours before they enforce a bandh in the area.
“Maoists blew up a portion of the railway track which caused the derailment. Three bogies have been badly damaged,” Railway minister Mamata Banerjee told PTI from Delhi.
South Eastern Railway PRO Soumitra Majumdar said 30 people were injured due to the derailment.
“The derailment followed a blast which damaged the rail track,” Superintendent of Police (Railway) Amil B Homkar said adding the number of casualty or injury could not be ascertained.
The guard of the train A Biswas said, “There was a strong jerk as the train was moving and stone chips went flying in all directions. Dust spread as the train came to a halt.”
A relief train from Rourkela has reached the accident spot.
Meanwhile, train movement on Howrah-Mumbai route came to a halt following the accident, railway sources said.
