Train crashes into bus killing four children

A train crashed into a schoolbus yesterday, killing four children and injuring 38 others, said an official at the scene of the accident in West Bengal state.

About 68 children and tea plantation workers were on the bus when it was hit by the train at an unguarded rail crossing in Banarhat, a town in Jalpaiguri District.

"Three children died on the spot and one succumbed to injuries on the way to the hospital," P.D. Pradhan, a district official said by telephone from the site.

He said the bus driver failed to see the train and drove onto the tracks.

A government official relying on initial reports earlier told a local television station that 15 children had died in the crash.

At least 38 children were in nearby hospitals where doctors had described the condition of eight as critical, Pradhan said.

The schoolbus belonged to a tea plantation in Jalpaiguri, a district that produces 25 per cent of India's tea. Yesterday's accident occurred about 700 km north of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state.