Kushinagar bus-train collision kills 11 students; toll may rise: Updates

The Kushinagar school bus-train collision killed 11 students of Divine Public School. Injured students were shifted to nearby hospital for treatment. Catch latest updates on Kushinagar bus accident

An early-morning accident in Uttar Pradesh's Kushinagar on Thursday saw at least 11 school students being killed as the vehicle they were travelling in collided with a passenger train at an unmanned crossing. All the victims were students of the town's Divine Public School. The surviving students who suffered injuries were immediately shifted to the nearby hospital for further treatment.

A total of 18 school students were travelling in the vehicle involved in the Kushinagar accident. Anand Kumar, ADG (Law and Order), told news agencies that many of the other seven were critically injured, adding that the death toll could go up. Previous reports had said that a total of 20 students were travelling in the vehicle.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed his deepest condolences over this "very unfortunate incident" in a statement on the Kushinagar accident, according to news agencies. The chief minister directed the district administration to provide all the help and medical aid required by those affected.

Further, the statement said, Adityanath declared an ex-gratia of Rs 200,000 (Rs 2 lakh) to the next of kin of the victims and directed an inquiry into the cause of the accident.

In September last year, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had said that the target of removing all unmanned level crossings could be achieved within a year, instead of the initial goal of doing it in three years. "Initially, the Railways had a target of removing all unmanned crossings in three years. But, I told them, why not do it within a year," he had said.

The Uttar Pradesh director general of police expressed his condolences on the "loss of precious lives of children in the unfortunate train accident in Kushinagar", adding that he had directed the Gorakhpur zone additional director general of police to reach the spot immediately and supervise the relief and rescue work.

Article Source: Business Standard

Prepare action plan against illegal abattoirs: Yogi to officials

He today ordered blanket ban on smuggling of cows

 

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath Yogi has directed officials to prepare an action plan for closing down illegal abattoirs across the state even as he warned against laxity on the issue.

In the UP Vision Document, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in run up to the recently concluded 2017 state poll, had promised shutting down illegal and mechanised abattoirs in the state after coming to power.

While there are about 45 licensed mechanised slaughterhouses in UP operating in the private sector, the number of illegal abattoirs is estimated in several hundreds. The government has already rolled out the process of identifying units flouting norms or operating without valid licences.

Holding a review meeting with top administrative and police officials here today, Yogi also stressed upon blanket ban on cow slaughter in the state.

Besides, he asked officials to identify anti-social elements active in different pockets of the state and to take strict penal action against them.| READ MORE....