BUCHAREST, Romania – A train slammed into a bus Friday at a crossing in northeast Romania, killing 12 people and injuring four others, officials said.
The bus with 16 people on board appeared to have ignored signals at the crossing in the village of Scanteia, said emergency official Raed Arafat. He said the crossing had no barriers.
Ten bus passengers died immediately on impact and two died later, according to police spokeswoman Virginia Pralea.
The bus driver was hospitalized with severe injuries, while a child aged 7 or 8 was among the dead, said another emergency official, Diana Cimpoesu.
Nobody on board the train was reported injured.
Officials said the train pushed the bus for about 200 meters (yards) after the collision, which happened near the Scanteia railway station. The train was traveling about 50 mph (80 kph) at the time.
Romanian National Railways says about 30 people died in collisions at railway crossings in 2008, and seven this year before Friday's crash.
Some crossings have no signals or barriers. Others have short barriers, which allow drivers willing to take the risk to weave their way past the obstables.
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