Bus-train collision:Death toll mounts to 17;five kids critical

The death toll in the last week's school bus-train collision at an unmanned railway crossing in Telangana's Medak district rose to 17 with a seven-year-old boy succumbing to his injuries at a private hospital here today, even as the condition of five other students remained critical.
Tarun, who was in "very very critical condition" after sustaining severe head injuries in the mishap, died this evening, said a senior official with Yashoda Hospitals.
"Out of the 20 students admitted to the hospital at Secunderabad here, the condition of five students continues to remain critical while seven other students (including three girls) are in stable condition. Seven patients in the age group of three to nine (two girls and five boys) were discharged today," said Yashoda Hospitals Director (Medical Services) Dr A Lingaiah.

Sixteen persons, including 14 schoolchildren and the driver and the cleaner of the private school bus, were killed and 20 students were injured when a passenger train rammed into their bus at an unmanned railway crossing in Masaipet village on July 24.
In a separate incident, a driver of a private school bus was roughed up some locals who accused him of driving under the influence of alcohol after the bus hit two vehicles in Keesara area.
"The driver was driving the bus in a drunken state posing risk to the lives of schoolchildren," alleged a local. Police are investigating the matter.

Meanwhile, the South Central Railway (SCR) has initiated a fortnight-long special drive on safety at Unmanned Railway Level Crossings (UMLCs) all over the zone.
SCR General Manager P K Srivastava has issued instructions to undertake this focused campaign aimed at avoiding accidents at unmanned level crossings, SCR said in a release here today.
"During the campaign, SCR officials will focus on thorough inspection of safety measures including the availability of requisite infrastructure at UMLCs, such as road surface, proper approaches, warning boards to road users, stop boards, whistle boards, speed breakers and visibility to the road users," according to the release.