Eight other children were injured in the accident that occurred early this morning, Principal Secretary (Information) Awanish Awasthi said.
The children, students of Divine Public School, were killed on the spot when the Thawe-Kapatanganj passenger train crashed into the vehicle carrying them at the unmanned level crossing gate at Behpurva, officials said.
The train was on way to Gorakhpur from Siwan.There were at least 25 passengers, including children, in the vehicle which was smashed under the massive impact of the accident.
"It was an unmanned level crossing gate at Behpurva, with Gate Mitra (rail volunteer) deployed there. He tried to stop the vehicle but the unfortunate incident happened at unmanned gate 45 near Dudhi station in Banaras division," an official spokesperson said.Talking to reporters here, Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani said there was a rail mitra (rail volunteer) at the spot, who tried to stop the school van, but the driver did not stop, adding that this is the first accident at an unmanned level crossing this year.
Mr Lohani said there are currently 3,479 unmanned level crossings on broad gauge of Indian Railways.
The railway board chairman also said that a total of 109 accidents have taken place at unmanned level crossings in the country since 2014-15 and asserted that railways aim to eliminate unmanned level crossings by March 2020.