DHAKA, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 12 people were killed when a train ploughed into a bus Saturday morning at a rail crossing in Bangladesh's Joypurhat district, 249 km northwest of capital Dhaka.

AKM Alamgir Jahan, officer-in-charge of Joypurhat Sadar Police Station, told reporters that six people were also injured in the accident at about 7:00 a.m. local time.

He said the train bound for the country's western Rajshahi city rammed into the passenger bus at a rail crossing manually operated by a staff member called gatekeeper.

According to the official, bodies of 10 people were recovered from the spot.

Apart from them, he said eight people were rushed to local hospitals. Two of them succumbed to their injuries later at a hospital.

All the dead were from the bus, he said.

Shariful Islam, Joypurhat district administration chief, said that the tragic accident took place due to the gatekeeper's sheer negligence in performing his duty.

"We've come to know that the gatekeeper was sleeping at the time of the accident," he said. Enditem

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