"The blast which caused the express train to derail took place on the first day of the four day 'Black week' called by the Naxalites. A patrol engine passed through the area half an hour earlier, but the timing of the blast proved disastrous with a portion of the line being blown away," she told the media.

Train services have been severely disrupted and the Indian Railways said that it might take at least one day to normalize the services.

"It would take about 24 hours to restore services. Once trapped persons are taken out, restoration work will be quickly done," a member of the Railway Board, Vivek Sahai, said, adding that the railways would give a compensation of 500,000 rupees (2,500 U.S. dollars) for the next of kin of each of the dead and 100,000 rupees (2,000 U.S. dollars) for the injured.

Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed his grief over the death of Gyaneswari Express passengers and announced a compensation of 200,000 rupees (4,000 U.S. dollars) to the kin of the deceased and 50,000 rupees (1,000 U.S. dollars) for each of those seriously injured.