At least 14 children, aged between eight and 10, were killed on Thursday when a train hit their school van at an unmanned crossing in Kushinagar district of east Uttar Pradesh. The accident took place between Tamukhi Road and the Dudahi station around 6.45 a.m., the Railways said. Later, Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani announced that the Railways was trying to eliminate all unmanned crossings by March 2020. He said that as of March 31, 2018, there were 5,792 unmanned crossings across the network. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal chaired a meeting with the Railway Board Chairman and other officials to review the plan for eliminating unmanned crossings. A Ministry official said the target for eliminating such crossings in 11 zones will be September 2018 while for the remaining five zones, the target will be set shortly.
People gather near a school van that was hit by a train at an unmanned railway-crossing near Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh on April 26, 2018.
