13 kids die as train hits school van at rail crossing

Gorakhpur (UP): At least 13 children, aged between 7 and 11, were on Thursday killed when a train rammed into their school van at an unmanned railway crossing in Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar area, around 50 km from Gorakhpur. Eight other children were injured in the accident that occurred early in the morning.

The children, students of Divine Public School, were killed on the spot when the Thawe-Kapatanganj passenger train crashed into the vehicle carrying them at the unmanned level crossing gate at Behpurva. The train was on way to Gorakhpur from Siwan. There were at least 25 passengers, including children, in the vehicle which was smashed under the massive impact of the accident.

"It was an unmanned level crossing gate at Behpurva, with Gate Mitra (rail volunteer) deployed there. He tried to stop the vehicle but the unfortunate incident happened at unmanned gate 45 near Dudhi station in Banaras division," an official spokesperson said. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who rushed to the accident site for an on-the-spot assessment, said prima facie the van driver appeared to be at fault.

"He is said to have earphones on... all the facts will be known in the inquiry headed by the Commissioner Gorakhpur," he told newspersons after visiting the district hospital at Kushinagar where he met the injured.