"I had just climbed the steps of the station when the blasts took place. The entire place shook and soon there was flesh and blood lying everywhere," said Ram Prasad, an eyewitness to the incident. "It was a terrible scene. Five-six bodies were lying nearby and several others were injured," he said.

Local residents swung into action and launched rescue operations. "We picked at least seven injured and put them in Tata Sumo vehicles," said Ashwini Kumar Shrivastava.

One Tarkeshwar Nath said he saw two severed heads lying near the blast site at the station. "It was a powerful blast. I saw two heads, and several pieces of flesh near the station," he said.

Prasad said six-seven persons were seriously injured and were in a "bad shape." "It was highly unlikely that they would survive," he said.

The busy station area was soon in the grip of terror and pain as injured cried for help.

"It was a heartrending scene with the injured crying for help. Quickly, we formed teams of locals and launched rescue efforts," said Shrivastava, a lawyer by profession.

The worst hit was the railway station where 14 people were killed and 30 injured in a powerful explosion outside the waiting room at 6:25 pm on platform one where Delhi-bound Shivaganga express train was stationary.