Overview
- A Nimtita–Katwa local train struck a school pool car at the Gobindapur/Karnasubarna manned level crossing in Murshidabad on Friday, killing multiple people including schoolchildren and a cyclist and leaving several others critically injured.
- Eyewitnesses and police say the gate was reopened after a Howrah-bound express passed, the van and a cyclist moved onto the tracks, and the oncoming local train then hit the vehicle.
- The crossing gateman has been suspended and arrested on charges of negligence, with residents alleging he was intoxicated and saying they had raised prior complaints about his conduct.
- Eastern Railway and Indian Railways have sent multi-member inquiry teams, said initial signalling checks showed no fault, and announced ex-gratia payments for the dead and the injured as investigations and post-mortems continue.
- The crash has left injured children in hospital, disrupted train services temporarily, provoked local protests and renewed scrutiny of manned level crossings that depend on gatekeepers rather than automatic barriers.