Eleven members of a family and the driver of a van they were travelling in were killed and three others seriously injured when the vehicle was hit by a train at an unmanned level crossing in Sarsod village of Hisar in Haryana.
ADVERTISEMENT
The incident took place on Monday morning when the family, which hailed from Balak village, was going to Panghal village for a religious function, police said.
ADVERTISEMENT
As their Tata Magic vehicle approached the unmanned level crossing at Sarsod village it slowed down. But due to poor visibility owing to fog, the driver was unable to spot the approaching Dhuri-Sirsa passenger train. As the mini van reached the tracks it was hit by the train.
The mini van was dragged nearly 100 metres before the train came to a halt. A large number of villagers, passerby and passengers of the train started the rescue operation and began pulling out the victims from the mangled remains of the van.
Six of the passengers were killed on the spot while another six were declared brought dead at the Civil Hospital in Hisar. Three others were admitted with injuries in the hospital, said Rajbir Singh, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Barwala.
The deceased have been identified as Bajrang (31), his wife Kavita (26) and their sons - Pritam (2) and Deepak (4); Pooja (26) and her daughter Nandini (2); Sanjiv, Sunita, Anita, Keshav and Kiran, and the driver of the vehicle.
The three injured have been identified as Anil, Nitin and Navneet. They are stated to be out of danger.