Two education department officers were suspended and a case was registered against the driver whose van was hit by a train at a railway crossing in Kushinagar today, leading to the death of 13 school children. Also, orders were issued to register an FIR against the manager and principal of the school for running it without valid registration.

Police have registered a case against van driver Nayaz Ansari and Kushinagar’s Divine Mission School under IPC section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). Certain provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act are also likely to be invoked, said DIG (Law and Order) Praveen Kumar. Survivors told police that Ansari was talking on his mobile phone and refused to stop the van as a train approached the unmanned level crossing. The van belonged to the school.

The case against the driver and the school was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by Zaheer, the father of one of the children killed in the accident.

The state government has also issued directions to suspend Kushinagar’s basic education officer Hemant Rao with immediate effect for laxity. Duddahi’s block education officer Shesh Bahadur Singh was also suspended. Two transport department officers also face possible suspension, the government said.