India wedding party hit by train

By Sandeep Sahu
BBC News, Bhubaneshwar

The vehicle's passengers had little chance of survival, officials said

At least 14 members of a wedding party, including the bride, have died in a collision between their van and a train at a railway crossing in eastern India.

The vehicle, carrying 15 people, was returning after a wedding. Women and children were among the victims.

Three other people were critically hurt in the accident at the unmanned crossing in Dhangera, in Orissa state.

Some 1,000 angry local residents later descended on the site, demanding that a manned gate be set up at the crossing.

But a police officer said the protest had been largely peaceful.

Trains halted

The accident, which involved a passenger train, happened at about 1600 local time (1130 GMT), some 300km (186 miles) west of Orissa's capital of Bhubaneswar, railway spokesperson GP Mishra said.

"As the vehicle rammed into the Bolangir-Puri Intercity Express it caught fire, leaving very little chance for the travellers to survive," local police official BK Das told the BBC.

Train services in the area have come to a complete halt since the accident.

Divisional railway head BK Patel said rescue and medical trains had been rushed to the spot and efforts were under way to restore rail services.

This is the second major rail accident in Orissa in the past two weeks.

On 13 February, 15 people were killed when 14 carriages of a passenger train derailed at Jajpur Road station in north Orissa.