At least 17 people were killed when an express train collided with a crowded jeep which was driving across an unmanned railway crossing in Bihar, police said on Sunday.
The victims were travelling on their way to participate in the victory procession of a candidate who was elected as the head of a local village. The train was coming from New Delhi to a city in northern Bihar's Madhubani district. Of the 17 victims, 16 were women.
"Right now, I can see 17 bodies lying on the railway track", senior police official Saurabh Kumar said over phone from Madhubani, some 160 km (100 miles) north of Patna, the state capital.
Five more jeep passengers who were badly injured in the accident were admitted to a local hospital.