Around 15 out of 27 passengers of an Uttarakhand Transport Corporation Bus received minor injuries when the bus was hit by a train at a crossing in Dehradun on Thursday.
The Kathgodam Express hit the bus at Haridwar bypass railway crossing as the crossing had not been closed for traffic by the railway staff. The incident which occurred around 4.30 AM is believed to have been caused by negligence of the railways staff because the crossing had been kept open for traffic.
The Kathgodam Express was on its way to Dehradun railway station when it hit the rear portion of the bus. Many of the 27 passengers could have lost their lives had the bus been even a metre behind than it was at the time of impact. Following this incident, the railways has constituted a team for conducting thorough investigation of this accident.
Sources said that the railway line crossing was not closed on time because the staff might have been sleeping then. The train hit the back portion of Tanakpur Depot bus when it had crossed the track towards the ISBT. The police also reached the site on being informed about the mishap. The 15 passengers who received minor injuries were admitted in a local hospital from where they were released after treatment.