Five killed as train rams into vehicles at level crossing in UP

At least five people, including an infant, were killed and two others injured, when a speeding train rammed into the vehicles they were travelling in, at a level crossing at Hulasnagara in Uttar Pradesh's Shahajahanpur district, about 175 kilometres from Lucknow, on Thursday morning.

According to the police sources, the incident occurred at around five in the morning.

Sources said that there were two trucks and a motorbike on the tracks, when the gateman, identified as Jitendra Yadav, received information that 5012 down Chandigarh-Lucknow Express train was about to pass through. He tried to close the gate and got the vehicles to clear the tracks but the train arrived before it could be done.

Four people were killed on the spot while one succumbed to his injuries in the hospital, sources said, adding that the condition of at least one of the injured was slated to be critical. One of the deceased was a local, who was on his way to answer nature's call. The passengers of the train were safe. The dead also included three members of a family.

Eye-witnesses said that the gateman kept shouting that the train was about to arrive but drivers of the trucks and other vehicles continued to cross the level crossing.

District officials said in Shahajahanpur that the engine of the train was also derailed owing to the impact of the collision, disrupting movement of trains in Lucknow-Bareilly section of Northern Railway. Rescue teams had reached the spot and efforts were on to clear the tracks, officials added.

Sources said that senior railway officials had also reached the spot and were trying to ascertain if there was any laxity on the part of the gateman.