Telangana train-bus accident toll rises to 18

The toll in last week's accident at an unmanned rail-road crossing in Telangana rose to 18 with one more child dead at a hospital here Tuesday.

Doctors at the Yashoda Hospital declared 11-year-old Vaishnavi dead. This took the toll of children in the accident, caused by the negligence of the school bus driver, to 16 and overall deaths, including those of the driver and helper, to 18.

Seven-year-old Tarun died in the same hospital Monday. Doctors said the condition of two other children remains critical. Two more children are under observation while 14 others are stable.

Though the hospital authorities have discharged seven children, their parents have refused to take them back home citing lack of proper medical facilities in their villages.

Fourteen children were killed when the Nanded-Secunderabad passenger train rammed into their school bus at an unmanned rail-road crossing at Masayipet in Medak district, about 70 km from here, July 24.

The accident occurred when the bus was carrying the children to their school at Toopran and the driver did not stop the vehicle short of the level crossing to check for any approaching train. - IANS