Train hits tempo in Bihar; 18 dead

Patna: At least eighteen people, including women and children, were killed and two others seriously injured when a tempo they were travelling in was hit by a train at a railway crossing in Bihar on Monday, officials said.

The Dehradun-bound Muzaffarpur-Rapti-Ganga Express hit the overcrowded tempo at Samera railway crossing in East Champaran district. East Champaran superintendent of police Sudhir Kumar Singh said that the 'Bodies of all the victims have been sent for post-mortem.'

Divisional railway manager (Samastipur) Arun Malik told reporters at the site that the accident was the result of negligence on the part of the gateman at the railway crossing. Malik said that the railway safety commissioner would inquire into the accident.

The victims, reportedly, belong to a single family. The Bihar government and the railway announced a compensation of Rs.1.5 lakh and Rs. 50, 000 respectively to the relatives of the victims.