(TOI)
At least 13 school children died on the spot and eight suffered injuries when the school van in which they were travelling was hit by a train at a railway crossing in Kushinagar on Thursday morning.
Taking serious note of the incident, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath ordered immediate assistance to the victims and their families and directed Commissioner Gorakhpur to conduct a probe into the mishap. There were reports that Adityanath may visit the site of mishap and meet the family members of the schoolkids. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also tweeted expressing their condolences over the deaths.
“ A Tata Magic school van carrying school children collided with passenger train (55075) coming from Sivan to Gorakhpur at unmanned railway crossing number 45, around 7.30 am. The gate mitra tried to stop the van driver but he didn’t stop and his van somehow stopped at the track. The railway crossing comes under Banaras division where the accident took occurred in which 10-12 children died on the spot.” CPRO, NE Railway, Sanjay Yadav said.
