West Bengal train accident: Three dead, several injured as train hits school van | Today’s news
Three people, including two schoolchildren, were killed and several others injured after a local train rammed into a school van at an open level crossing in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district on Friday morning, PTI reported.
The accident happened around seven o’clock in the morning Karna Subarna Railway Stationabout 214 km from Calcutta. A Tata Sumo van carrying about 10 schoolchildren was crossing the railway tracks when it was hit by a train.
According to railway officials quoted by Fr PTI, The crossing gate was reportedly open when the collision occurred. AND 10 person team was dispatched to investigate the cause of the accident.
Local residents took the injured children to a nearby hospital. Three children and the driver were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) at Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital, while the remaining injured children are undergoing treatment at the same facility, according to local media reports.
Video footage from the crash scene showed the extent of the impact, with the school van’s windows smashed, the bodywork badly crushed, the windscreen shattered and the roof nearly ripped off.
The collision also affected the operation of trains on the line Azimganj–Katwa section from Eastern Railway’s Howrah division, railway officials said.
After the accident, local residents protested, alleging negligence on the part of the railways and the porter. Some residents claimed the doorman may have been drunk at the time of the accident, according to local media reports. The authorities have not officially confirmed these allegations.
West Bengal train crash: Union Minister reacts
Reacting to the incident, the Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar described the children’s deaths as “heartbreaking” and called for a thorough investigation.
“Any loss of life is tragic, but the death of children is even more heartbreaking. A thorough investigation is necessary and I trust that the railways will conduct a separate investigation,” he said.
Railroad authorities are continuing to investigate to determine the circumstances that led to the fatal collision, PTI reported.
