FEROZEPUR (PUNJAB): At least three children were killed and 13 injured Monday when their school van collided with a railway engine at an unmanned crossing in this border district of Punjab.
The injured have been rushed to the civil hospital in Ferozepur, 300 km from the state capital Chandigarh.
Ferozepur Senior Superintendent of Police Dinesh Pratap Singh said the accident at Haraj village, near this town, took place at an unmanned railway crossing and the van driver did not see the engine coming.
Eyewitnesses told police that the school van was overspeeding.
The van belonged to the DAV School here and had gone to pick up students from nearby villages.
Expressing his shock at the accident, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal announced a grant of Rs.100,000 to the families of each of the victims. He added that the state government would bear the entire cost of treatment of the injured students.