13 children killed as train hits school van

KUSHINAGAR (UP), Apr 26:
Thirteen children on their way to school were killed today when a train rammed into their van at an unmanned railway crossing in Kushinagar.
Five others were injured as the Thawe-Kapatanganj passenger train hit the van carrying 25 people, mostly children from Divine Public School, at 7 am.
Local people who rushed to the level crossing gate at Behpurva, about 50 km from Gorakhpur, saw blood-splattered bodies of children, aged between 8 and 10, with water bottles, school bags and books strewn around. The level crossing was described as ‘unmanned’, with no barrier to stop road traffic. But a ‘gate mitra’ (railway volunteer) was posted there.

Click here to Watch Video
Some eyewitnesses said the driver, who is among the injured, tried to speed across the level crossing even when onlookers tried to draw his attention to the approaching train. One eyewitness said that the van then got stuck in the middle of the rail tracks.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was “deeply pained” over the accident action. “As I was coming to you, I got the sad news from Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar about the train ramming into a school bus in which children were travelling (and that) many children have been killed,” he said at a BJP meeting in poll-bound Karnataka. Congress president Rahul Gandhi also expressed grief.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who reached Kushinagar to get a first-hand account, faced protests from the local people. An angry crowd at the accident spot raised slogans against railway and local authorities. Some protesters squatted on the tracks demanding that railway personnel should be posted at the unmanned crossing to avoid such accidents.
The train was on way to Gorakhpur from Siwan. The gate 45 near Dudhi station falls in Railway’s Varanasi division. An official spokesperson said the ‘gate mitra’ tried to stop the van from crssing the tracks, but failed. (PTI)

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here