Siwan Superintendent of Police Nitasha Gudia said the accident occurred at Chap Dhala railway crossing near Siwan railway station when the Howrah-Gorakhpur Bagh Express train rammed into a bus carrying 25 students of a local engineering college.

Angry over the tragedy, hundreds of local residents torched the engine and several bogies of the train and damaged railway property. The engine of the train derailed after the accident.

"The situation is tense in Siwan town after the incident as all the victims were residents of a nearby village," a district police official said.

The injured have been admitted to a government hospital.

Train services were disrupted on the Chhapra-Gorakhpur section of the Varanasi rail division.

According to police officials, a railway official, who was posted at the railway crossing, ran away after the accident.

"It appears that the bus driver was trying to cross the tracks ignoring the speeding train because of the absence of the gateman at the railway crossing," a police official said.

Railways Minister C.P. Joshi announced ex-gratia of Rs.5 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased, Rs.1 lakh each to those grievously injured and Rs.25,000 to those who sustained minor injuries in the accident.