At least 13 school children died on Thursday after the vehicle carrying them collided with a train at an unmanned crossing in Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar. Reports also said that eight children have been injured in the accident.

The children were students of the Divine Mission School and were killed on the spot. According to news reports, the driver of the vehicle was also killed when the accident took place at around 7.10 am:

 

Yogi Adityanath announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the kin of the deceased children. He has also directed Gorakhpur commissioner to conduct an inquiry into the accident.

 

According to the DSP, the accident took place due to the carelessness of the driver, who was reportedly using earphones while driving. The bus was also overloaded, said the DSP. He also said that the exact number of children present inside the vehicle is yet to be ascertained.

 

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has released a statement, saying, "I am deeply anguished and pained by the loss of lives of young school children at an unmanned level crossing (UMLC) in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh. My thoughts are with families of the deceased and I pray for the early recovery of the injured. The Ministry of Railways will provide an ex-gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh for kin of the deceased, Rs 1 lakh for those with serious injuries and Rs 50,000 for those with simple injuries. I have ordered a senior level enquiry into the incident. We stand committed to take all possible steps to avoid such accidents in future."

"The railways' aim is to stop not just unmanned railway crossings, but also manned crossings," says Railway Board chairman Ashwini Lohani. "There is a hut with a guard present at the manned railway crossings. But at unmanned railway crossings, there is nothing. The onus is on commuters and people to be careful."

Meanwhile, The Principal of the Divine Mission School, KJ Khan, and the school owner have both reportedly gone missing.