Rahul expresses sympathy with victims of MP bus accident

Congress President Rahul Gandhi Thursday expressed sympathy with the kin of those killed and injured in a bus accident in Madhya Pradesh.

Gandhi took to Twitter to express his feelings and said he was pained to hear about the incident in Satna district.

"Pained on hearing the news of the bus mishap in Madhya Pradesh. I pray to God for early relief to the injured. My deep sympathies with the parents of the children," he tweeted in Hindi.

Six school children and a driver were killed while 11 others were injured when a bus collided with a school van at Birsinghpur in Satna on Thursday.

Five children were among those injured and two of them are in a critical condition, police said.

Police had earlier claimed that eight people, including seven schoolchildren, were killed in the accident.

Six children -- four boys and two girls -- aged between 10-15 years, travelling in the school van and its driver were killed on the spot, Satna district Superintendent of Police (SP) Santosh Singh Gaur said.

The accident took place around 8.30 am, he said, adding the school van was completely damaged in the collision.

The deceased children were students of Lucky Convent School in Birsinghpur, about 40 km from the district headquarters, Gaur said.

According to the officer, due to the impact of the collision, both the vehicles turned turtle. The bus was going to Chitrakoot from Rewa.