Maoists blast rail track, torch diesel tankers on goods train

PATNA - At least 15 diesel tankers caught fire when suspected Maoists derailed a goods train by blasting the railway track and then set afire one of the tankers in Bihar’s Motihari district, a railway official said Thursday.

The Maoists targeted the diesel tankers on the goods train between Jeevdhara and Pipra railway stations in Motihari, about 200 km from here.

“The goods train driver and guard informed us that suspected Maoists set afire an oil tanker. After that fire spread to other tankers,” East Central Railway Chief Public Relation Officer Dilip Kumar told IANS over telephone.

A local police official said that the fire was still raging.

“The fire is massive and we will have to wait for the fuel to burn out,” he said.

Meanwhile, train services have been disrupted in north Bihar as the main track has been blocked, sources in the railways said.