Train crashes into jeep in northern India, killing 15

Train crashes into jeep in northern India, killing 15

2012-03-21 15:08:21 GMT+7 (ICT)

HATHRAS, India (BNO NEWS) -- Fifteen people were killed on early Tuesday morning when a passenger train crashed into a jeep in northern India, police and railway officials said on Wednesday. Two others were injured.

The accident occurred just before 7:20 a.m. local time at an unmanned railway crossing near Madu railway station in Hathras, a city in the Mahamaya Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh state. It happened when a jeep carrying seventeen people attempted to cross the tracks.

Police said the Mathura-Kasganj Express train crashed into the vehicle and dragged it along the track until it was able to stop, killing fifteen people who were in the jeep. The two survivors were rushed to a local hospital, but their conditions were not immediately released.

Both train accidents and road accidents occur frequently in India, the world's second most populous nation which has the fourth largest railroad network in the world. According to India's National Crime Records Bureau, approximately 120,000 people are killed in road accidents in India each year, many of which are attributed to reckless driving, aging vehicles and overloading.

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