Dozens dead in India train-bus collision

Accidents involving Indian Railways, which employes 1.4 million people, are rather common [EPA]

More than 35 people have been killed and dozens more injured after a train rammed into a bus in northern India.

The accident took place in the Kanshiram Nagar district of the Uttar Pradesh state on Thursday, as about 80 bus passengers were heading home from a wedding party, a local administrator said.

“The bus was stranded here due to some technical problem, suddenly a train came,” Saurabh Srivastava, the local police superintendent, said.

“The bus was carrying many passengers and until now, we have found 20 to 25 bodies and searching for other 25 bodies. We are still taking away bodies from here.”

The Press Trust of India news agency, quoting unnamed railway sources, said 33 people had been killed and 17 injured, while the UNI news agency quoted a local magistrate as saying 31 bodies had been recovered and almost 40 wounded.

The bus had stopped at a railroad crossing after its axle broke and was hit by the train, an official said.

The train dragged the mangled bus more than 500 metres before coming to a halt, he said. No passengers on the train were hurt.

The NDTV network broadcast footage from the scene, about 170km southeast of New Delhi, showing debris strewn across the tracks and police officers carrying bodies covered with sheets on stretchers.

Train accidents are common in India, where the world’s largest railroad network carries more than 14 million passengers each day, but this is the most deadly accident in 2011.

The railways is the country’s largest employer with 1.4 million people on its payroll. Most accidents are blamed on poor maintenance and human error.