New Delhi.- At least five people, including four students, died this Friday after a train struck a school vehicle in the Murshidabad district, in the Indian state of West Bengal.
The vehicle, which was transporting students to their schools, was struck by a train around 7:00 a.m. local time as it crossed a railway crossing near the Karna Subarna station, Deputy Superintendent of the Murshidabad Traffic Police, Sumanta Kabiraj, confirmed to EFE.
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Two students died on the spot, while two others who were injured passed away later at the hospital, Kabiraj explained.
The fifth deceased was a cyclist who was also attempting to cross the tracks at the time of the accident.
“I offer prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured. Civil and police authorities are working on assistance efforts and the adoption of other necessary measures,” declared the Minister in charge of Transport of West Bengal, Arjun Singh.
Although India has significantly reduced major railway accidents in the last decade, safety at level crossings and railway junctions remains one of the vulnerable points of a network that is among the most extensive and busiest in the world.
In June 2023, a multi-train collision involving two passenger trains and a freight train in the eastern state of Odisha left more than 280 people dead, in India’s worst rail accident in more than two decades.
