Kushinagar train accident: Probe ordered, ex-gratia announced; top updates

The Kushinagar school bus-train collision killed 13 students of Divine Public School. Injured students were shifted to nearby hospital for treatment. Catch latest updates on Kushinagar bus accident

At least 13 students under 10 years were killed when a speeding train rammed into their school van at an unmanned rail crossing in Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh and halted only after dragging the mangled vehicle for some 100 metres. At least four students and the driver of the van, who Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath alleged had an earphone and was listening to music while driving, were among the injured, doctors and officials said. Two of them were in critical condition.

The horrific incident took place around 7.10 am at the Dudhi Behpurva rail gate when the children were headed to a Divine Public School and were hit by the Gorakhpur-Siwan Passenger at the Dudhi Behpurva crossing, 100 km from Gorakhpur.

The injured were rushed to Pandrauna Hospital, about 30 km away. Indian Railways spokesperson Ved Prakash told IANS that the children died on the spot.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the loss of lives.

"Shocked to learn about the horrific accident... Thoughts and prayers with the bereaved families and with those injured," the President tweeted.

Modi conveyed his deep pain over the incident and asked the Railways and Uttar Pradesh government to take appropriate action in the matter.

Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani on Thursday said the Railways were committed to "eliminate unmanned level crossings" but said people needed to be careful while crossing the unmanned level crossings."Basically, people have to be careful. There is no substitute for that. We cannot take any step that is foolproof,” Lohani said.

A North Eastern Railway official said at least 25 people, mostly children below the age of 10 years, were in the van.

"I am deeply anguished and pained by the loss of lives of young school children... My thoughts are with families of the deceased and I pray for the early recovery of the injured," Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said in a statement.

The Minister announced an ex-gratia of Rs 200,000 each to the kin of the victims, Rs 100,000 to those critically injured and Rs 50,000 to those with minor injuries.

He said he had ordered an enquiry into the incident. "We stand committed to take all possible steps to avoid such accidents in future."

An accident relief medical train from Gorakhpur was dispatched to the site.

Adityanath visited the accident site and the hospital to meet the injured children. He directed the Divisional Commissioner of Gorakhpur to conduct a probe into the incident. He too announced an ex-gratia of Rs 200,000 each to the families of the deceased.

After meeting the injured at the hospital, he said: "I am told that the van driver was wearing earphones while driving... This is a case of pure negligence.

"An inquiry has been ordered... The guilty will face the most severe punishment," he said.

Adityanath later told the media that prima facie the accident appeared to be the fault of the van driver, who apparently was listening to music on his earphones.

"I spoke to the Railway Minister and have requested him to find a way out to ensure that such unmanned railway crossings be manned," he said.

An official said the Chief Minister had ordered that school vans across the state be checked on whether they were following the safety guidelines or not.

In Lucknow, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) demanded that the railways appoint staff at all unmanned level crossings across the country to make them safer for people.

The train was on way to Gorakhpur from Siwan. The gate 45 near Dudhi station falls in Railway's Varanasi division. An official spokesperson said the 'gate mitra' tried to stop the van from crossing the tracks, but failed. The accident comes two years after a similar tragedy in Uttar Pradesh's Bhadohi district in which eight children were killed and 14 others injured when a school bus was hit by a train at an unmanned railway crossing. 

Here are the top 10 developments in the Kushinagar train accident: 

1) Yogi Adityanath faces protests in Kushinagar: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath faced angry protests during his visit here to get a first-hand account of the train-school van collision that left 13 children dead.

As Adityanath reached the accident spot after visiting the district hospital, an angry crowd raised slogans against railway and local authorities.

The chief minister tried to pacify them using a megaphone. "Narebazi band karo, nautanki band karo" (stop raising slogans, stop this drama). I have come here to express my sympathies," he said.

However, the protesters were not satisfied and some of them squatted on the railway track.

They demanded that railway personnel should be posted at the unmanned crossing to avoid such accidents.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visits Gorakhpur medical college to meet Kushinagar train accident victims on Thursday

2) Yogi vists accident site: Adityanath on Thursday visited the accident site in Kushinagar and enquired about the treatment being given to the injured at a hospital. 

"Today an unfortunate incident has taken place. My heart goes to the family members who have lost their children," Adityanath said, according to news agency ANI.

Further, there is no confirmation yet upon the age of the accused driver.

The Uttar Pradesh government will take a strict action against the people responsible for the incident and required arrangements shall be made to avoid any similar incidents in the future, as assured by Chief Minister Adityanath.

Yogi says accident was driver's fault: Adityanath said, prima facie, the accident was the fault of the van driver, who was apparently listening to music using earphones. "I spoke to the Railway Minister (Piyush Goyal) and requested him to find a way out to ensure that such unmanned railway crossings be manned," he said.

He further pointed out the laxity on the part of the school, which admitted the students with serious head injuries to BRD medical college instead of sending them to a higher centre. He also said that there were questions about the age of the van driver. 

3) Railway minister orders inquiry: Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday ordered an inquiry into the Kushinagar train-school van accident and announced a compensation of Rs 200,000 for the kin of the deceased.

The minister also said that the Railways will provide an ex gratia amount of Rs 100,000 for those with serious injuries and Rs 50,000 for those simple injuries.

"My thoughts are with families of the deceased and I pray for the early recovery of the injured. 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," the railway minister said in the statement.

He said that he has ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident, adding "We stand committed to take all possible steps to avoid such accidents in future".

School vehicles across UP under lens: An official said that the chief minister had ordered that school vehicles across the state be checked for compliance with guidelines prescribed for such vehicles.

4) Railways to do away with unmanned crossings: Reacting to the Kushinagar accident, Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani on Thursday said that Indian Railways is committed to "eliminate unmanned level crossings". Asking commuters to be careful while crossing the unmanned level crossings, Lohani said: "Basically, people have to be careful while crossing rail tracks, there is no substitute to that. We cannot take any step that is fool-proof."   

Key facts about unmanned railway crossings and Railways safety in India: 

a) Amid a drive by the government to eliminate unmanned level crossings by 2020, estimates indicate that over 20 per cent of the total number of level crossings under Railways are still unmanned.

b) Of the shortage of 225,000 employees as reported by the Railways, more than 50 per cent are coming on the safety side. As of February this year, there were around 4,267 unmanned level crossings in the broad gauge network alone. "We still have between 6,000 and 7,000 of our level crossings unmanned – including broad gauge, meter gauge and narrow gauge networks," said a Railways official.

c) As of April 2017, of the 29,487 level crossings with Indian railways, about 26 per cent, or 7,701, were unmanned. 

d) According to the Railways, the number of accidents at unmanned level crossings owing to the negligence of road vehicle users has decreased from 135 in 2014-15 to 107 in 2015-16 and 104 in 2016-17. According to the latest available figures, it has come down to 70 by February 2017-18, compared with 99 in the corresponding period of 2016-17.

e) Elimination of unmanned level crossings was one of the key components of the Mission Zero Accident lined up by the government in the 2016-17 Budget.

f) Railways has already created an exclusive fund, the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK), with a corpus of Rs 1 trillion for five years to give a major boost to safety-related works – for improving safety of tracks, rolling stock, and proliferation of other safety technologies and training of staff.

5) Yogi Adityanath announces ex-gratia: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed his deepest condolences over this "very unfortunate incident" in a statement on the Kushinagar accident, according to news agencies. The chief minister directed the district administration to provide all the help and medical aid required by those affected. 

Further, the statement said, Adityanath declared an ex-gratia of Rs 200,000 (Rs 2 lakh) to the next of kin of the victims and directed an inquiry into the cause of the accident. Gorakhpur Divisional Commissioner Anil Kumar has been asked to probe the incident.   

6) Accident relief medical train dispatched: An accident relief medical train from Gorakhpur was dispatched to the site, the NE official said. Several senior officials have also rushed to the accident site, and an inquiry has been ordered. 

7) Death toll may rise: A total of 18 school students were travelling in the vehicle involved in the Kushinagar accident. Anand Kumar, ADG (Law and Order), told news agencies that many of the other seven were critically injured, adding that the death toll could go up. Previous reports had said that a total of 20 students were travelling in the vehicle.    

8) PM Modi assures UP govt, Railways will take action: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that he was "deeply pained" by the deaths of 13 school students in Kushinagar, adding that the Uttar Pradesh government and Railways would take appropriate action. 

9) Rahul Gandhi expresses grief: Rahul Gandhi on Thursday expressed grief over the death of 13 children in an accident at an unmanned railway crossing in Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar.

Gandhi also urged his party workers to help families affected by the accident in all possible ways.

I am deeply pained to hear about the death of 13 innocent children in a tragic accident in Kushinagar. I urge local Congress workers to help families affected by the mishap in all possible ways, the Congress chief tweeted. 

10) UP DGP expresses condolences: The Uttar Pradesh director general of police expressed his condolences on the "loss of precious lives of children in the unfortunate train accident in Kushinagar", adding that he had directed the Gorakhpur zone additional director general of police to reach the spot immediately and supervise the relief and rescue work.

With agency input