Train-van collision: Railways announce compensation to families of the deceased

New Delhi, Dec 4: Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Thursday termed as "unfortunate" the death of five children in a train-school van collision at an unmanned railway crossing in UP's Mau district and announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakhs to the next of the kin of the deceased.

"A big accident has happened as a van carrying school kids collided with a train. It is unfortunate that the driver didn't stop to see as is expected of him at an unmanned level crossing and this led to the tragedy," the Minister told reporters outside Parliament before rushing to the accident site.

"Some children have died and some are injured," the Minister said. Railways announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of deceased, Rs 1 lakh for seriously injured and Rs 20,000 for those who sustained simple injuries in accident.

With the accident once again bringing into focus, the problem of unmanned level crossing, the Minister said the government was taking all steps to man them. At present, there are 11,000 unmanned level crossings across the country, he said.

PTI