India: Train crashes into school bus, 25 children die

Twenty-five children in the Indian state of Telangana were killed in an accident today (July 24), when a school bus carrying them was hit by a train and pushed hundreds of meters, Indian media reported.

The accident occurred at an unguarded intersection near Masaipet village in Medak district at 9:10 a.m. local time, as the children were on their way to school.

All the students on board the bus were students of the Kakatiya Techno School. At the time of the accident, there were 40 students on board, from two villages, Islampur and Zakeerpalli.

Railway accidents are common in India.

The driver of the car was also killed in the accident, the Times of India reported.

The collision was so strong that the bus was dragged nearly 1km.

In India, there are a total of nearly 15,000 road and rail level crossings, and according to a BBC reporter, hundreds of people die each year in accidents at these crossings.

After the accident, local people rushed to rescue some students still trapped in the car, before rescue forces arrived at the scene.

An investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the accident.

Safety standards on India's massive railway system, which has 9,000 passenger trains and carries 23 million passengers a day, have long been a source of concern after a series of recent accidents.

Last month, several carriages of a train derailed in Bihar state, killing at least four people and injuring 10.

In May, at least 20 people were killed when a passenger train derailed and collided with a goods train in Uttar Pradesh state.

According to Nongnghiepvn