As many as 26 children are feared killed and 10 seriously injured after a school bus carrying 40 students collided with a speeding train bound for Secunderabad, the twin city of Hyderabad, at a level-crossing gate in Medak district in the newly-formed south Indian state of Telangana.
According to reports, the bus was completely damaged.
The injured, some of them seriously, have been admitted to a local hospital. Police sources say the death toll could rise.
Such was the impact of the collision that the bus is reported to have been dragged for at least 1km by the train.
Schoolbags and water-bottles are said to be lying scattered around the wreckage of the bus.
There are conflicting reports about the cause of the accident. Some reports say the driver of the bus, who was among those killed, failed to heed a warning about the gate being left open.
Other reports indicate that due to technical lapses, the signal at the level-crossing failed.
India's railway crossings have turned into virtual death traps with about 15,000 people being killed every year at the gates.
Numerous safety panels have recommended bridges and overpasses to avoid accidents, but these have only remained on paper.
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