6 killed, 51 injured in Varanasi Cantt. Rly station blast

New Delhi, Mar 8: Six people have died and 51 injured in the blast at Varanasi's busy Cantonment railway station yesterday, Northern Railway said today.

Three of the injured were in serious condition. The injured had been admitted to local hospitals in Varanasi.

Nine people had been admitted to the Singh Medical Hospital, another nine in BHU Hospital, 14 in Heritage Hospital, 22 in Shiv Prasad Gupt Hospital and three in DLW Hospital.

All the six unidentified bodies had been kept at Shiv Prasad Gupt Hospital.

Railways had also paid an amount of Rs 50,000 to the seriously injured and Rs 500 for those with minor injuries. It would also pay an ex-gratia of Rs four lakh to the families of those killed.

The blast had occurred at 1840 hours yesterday near the office of the station superintendent.

Senior officials of the Northern Railway, including the General Manager and the divisional railway manager, Lucknow rushed to the site immediately after the incident. A medical van was also rushed to the site.

The Northern Railway have also set up helplines railway stations in New Delhi, Delhi (JN), Varanasi, Lucknow, Sultanpur, Rai Bareilly and Faizabad.

At least 16 people, including five devotees, were killed and over 80 others injured as suspected terrorists triggered two blasts in the temple town of Varanasi yesterday, a week before the Holi festival.

The other blast occured at the packed Sankatmochan Temple at around 1830 hrs.

UNI