15 children die in Indian bus-train collision

A train crashed into a school bus killing 15 children on their way to school in India’s West Bengal state, officials said.

About 40 children were in the bus and 15 died when it was hit by the train at an unguarded rail crossing in Jalpaiguri District, 400 miles north of Calcutta, district official Jay Biswas said.

The schoolbus belonged to a tea plantation in Jalpaiguri, a district that produces 25% of India’s tea.

The Northeastern Railway said it had reports of 30 children injured, but could not confirm the deaths.