Seven schoolchildren were among eight killed when the van in which they were travelling collided with the Ferozepur-Bathinda Express at an unmanned level-crossing at Gumtala village near Nurmahal early on Wednesday.

Police claimed the driver of the van, belonging to the Akal Academy in Bilga, failed to notice the approaching train. Though the train driver applied emergency brakes, it was too late. The impact of the collision was so strong that the van was dragged by the train for about 200 metres.

While three students and the van driver were killed on the spot, four students succumbed to injuries in a hospital, they said. Fifteen injured students have been referred to the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital at Ludhiana, where the condition of five was stated to be critical.

The van was carrying 27 students from the nearby villages, mostly from Dhalla and Kandola.

Later, locals held a protest, demanding immediate installation of a manned railway crossing on the spot.