NEW DELHI, July 17 (Xinhua) -- At least four people, including three school children, were killed and five others injured Friday after a passenger train rammed into a school van and a cyclist at an allegedly open level crossing point in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, police said.
The accident took place at the Gobindpur railway gate near Karnasubarna station in Murshidabad district, about 215 km north of Kolkata, the capital city of West Bengal.
The railway crossing was opened immediately after an express train passed through, but a passenger train was scheduled to pass shortly afterward, therefore the gate could have been lifted prematurely, according to police officials.
A driver of the school van carrying students spotted the open crossing and tried to drive across the tracks, and the cyclist also tried to cross the tracks, but a local train hurtling at high speed hit both of them, said the officials.
The gateman at the level crossing has been arrested for alleged dereliction of duty, and a 10-member railway team has been constituted to investigate the accident. ■
