38 dead as train rams into bus in Uttar Pradesh
At least 38 people were killed and 31 injured when an express train collided with a bus at an unmanned level crossing in Uttar Pradesh's Kanshiram Nagar district on Thursday, officials said.
The accident took place around 2 a.m. in Thanagaon, about 300 km from here, when Chhapra-Mathura Express rammed into the bus carrying members of a wedding party on their way back home to Etah, Government Railway Police inspector Dalveer Singh said.
Kanshiram Nagar District Magistrate Selva Kumari J. said: 'The toll is now 38, around 31 people are being treated in hospitals and community health centres.'
'of the 31 survivors, three are critical and have been taken to Agra for specialized treatment at the medical college there,' she said.
Some railway officials from Bareilly division blamed the bus driver for the accident.
According to survivors undergoing treatment at the Etah district hospital, there was a heated argument between the bridegroom's family and the driver, following which the driver sulked and refused to drive the vehicle.
The bus conductor then offered to drive.
Minutes later, the vehicle was hit by the train, barely 250 metres away from the venue of the marriage.
The bride and bridegroom were travelling in a Bolero jeep that had gone ahead of the bus.
The driver, who had perched himself on the roof of the bus, and the cleaner, who was behind the wheels, also died in the accident.
There were around 80 people in the bus at the time of the accident.
Images: PTI
Text: IANS
Image: Villagers and policemen look at the wreckage after a train hit a bus at a railway crossing near Kanshiram Nagar on Thursday.
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