Forty-nine others have sustained injuries and are being treated in hospital in Kheri, a town 105 miles south west of Lucknow, the capital of northern Uttar Pradesh state. A police spokesman says ,ost of the victims were poor Muslims who worked on agricultural farms or did small jobsi. The bus had a seating capacity for 60 people, but it was overcrowded with 80 wedding guests. The death toll is expected to rise as most survivors received serious injuries. The bus was badly crushed as the driver apparently failed to see the train at the crossing where there was no gate or any railway employee to regulate the traffic.
Railway accidents occur frequently in India, which has the world's largest rail network.
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