Yogi Adityanath suspends four govt officials after Kushinagar accident

He also ordered the registration of an FIR and initiation of legal action against Kareem Jahan Khan, the manager-cum-principal of the Divine Mission School, for running the institution illegally.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered the suspension of four officials from the education and transport departments in connection with the death of 13 children in a tragic accident at an unmanned railway crossing in Kushinagar on Thursday.

The mangled remains of the school van that was rammed by a speeding train in Kushinagar on Thursday morning. (PTI photo)

A school van, carrying students of the nearby Divine Mission School, was rammed by a train speeding down the tracks. Eight students were also injured, some of them grievously, in the incident.

The suspended officials are Kushinagar basic shiksha adhikari Hemant Rao, Dudhi block education officer Shesh Bahadur, assistant regional transport officer Raj Kishore Trivedi and transport officer Ranvir Singh, an official communiqué said.

Earlier in the day, the chief minister had directed Anil Kumar, the divisional commissioner of Gorakhpur, to investigate the accident. “I have submitted a report recommending action against errant officers and school management members to the state government,” Kumar said.

A senior government officer said the chief minister, taking cognisance of the divisional commissioner’s report, ordered strict action against the officials concerned. Adityanath also ordered the registration of an FIR and initiation of legal action against Kareem Jahan Khan, the manager-cum-principal of the Divine Mission School, for running the institution illegally.

The chief minister additionally ordered an inquiry against the Seth Bansidhar School, which would allegedly issue transfer certificates to students enrolled at the Divine Mission School.