Moga (Punjab), Dec 14 (IANS) At least 17 people were killed and 10 injured here Friday morning when a private mini bus and a passenger train crashed into each other at a manned railway crossing enveloped in a dense fog.
“Seventeen people were killed when a mini bus and the Sutlej Express going from Ludhiana to Ferozepur collided around 9 a.m.,” Senior Superintendent of Police (Moga) L.K. Yadav said.
Over 30 people, including school and college students, were travelling in the bus when the accident occurred at a manned railway crossing near the district headquarter town of Moga, over 200 km from Chandigarh.
Officials said four of those killed were schoolchildren. At least seven of the seriously injured have been rushed to Ludhiana while the rest are being treated at the Moga Civil Hospital.
No passengers on the train were injured but rail traffic on the Ludhiana-Ferozepore section was affected by the accident.
Eyewitnesses said the minibus driver was speeding at the time of the accident.
Thick fog had engulfed the area Friday morning due to which the bus driver could neither see the railway gate nor the train. The train was travelling at over 80 km per hour at the time of impact, officials said.
The gateman at the railway crossing was reported missing by railway officials who rushed to the spot. Police and railway officials said that they were trying to ascertain if the accident was due to the gateman’s fault.