Twelve children were among 13 killed and ten other students were injured when a brick-laden truck collided with their school van in Jalandhar district this morning.
The children, students of a private school, were headed for the school when the accident occurred near Jaheera village in Lambhra, close to Nakodar, a senior police official said.
The driver of the school van was also killed in the mishap.
“The mishap took place at 8 a.m. in Jaheera village when the bus of Akal Academy was taking students to the school,” Jalandhar Rural SP (D) Rajinder Singh said.
Around 30 children were stated to be travelling in the van when the truck collided with it. The area, where the accident occurred, is said to be prone to accidents. The injured students were rushed to a local hospital.
The impact of the accident was so bad that the school van was virtually reduced to a piece of metal scrap. School bags, tiffin boxes and colourful pencil boxes lay strewn at the site.