Lucknow: In a tragic incident, 13 school children were killed and eight others, including the van driver, were critically injured when a school van was hit by a train at an unmanned railway crossing in Kushinagar district on Thursday morning.
The injured students have been admitted to the district hospital. The van driver’s condition is also said to be critical. The children, all students of Divine Public School, were killed on the spot when the Thawe-Kapatanganj passenger train (55075) crashed into the van at the unmanned crossing gate at Behpurva at 6.50 am. The train was on its way to Gorakhpur from Siwan.
The deceased children were identified as Hariom, Santosh, Ravi, Ragini, Ataullah, Arshad, Anras, Golu, Kamrul, Sajida, Tamanna, Miraj and Muskan. All of them are less than 10 years old.
An eyewitness said the train’s horn was audible as it was approaching the unmanned crossing but the van driver, apparently getting late for school, took a chance which led to the accident.
The police has booked the principal and manager of Divine Public School for running the school without proper registration and recognition. Also, the basic education officer of Kushinagar and block education officer have been suspended along with the area regional transport officer.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath rushed to Kushinagar and visited the site. He met the injured children and ordered the best possible treatment for the injured.
Stop this drama: Yogi to victims’ kin
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday faced angry protests during his visit here to get a first hand account of the train-school van collision that left 13 children dead.
As Adityanath reached the accident spot after visiting the district hospital, an angry crowd raised slogans against railway and local authorities. The Chief Minister tried to pacify them using a megaphone. “Narebazi band karo, nautanki band karo” (stop raising slogans, stop this drama). I have come here to express my sympathies,” he said.
However, the protesters were not satisfied and some of them squatted on the railway track. They demanded that railway personnel be posted at the unmanned crossing to avoid such accidents.
Members of the Bar Council complained about the “irresponsible attitude” of the district hospital staff for refering injured children to another hopsital without first aid.
