2nd LD Writethru: 6 killed in truck-train collision in southern India

At least six people were killed and eight others injured after a lorry collided with an express train in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh in the wee hours of Monday, a senior police official said.

"The mishap happened around 2.20 a.m. local time at a level crossing at Madakasira in the state's Anantapur district when the granite-laden lorry crashed through the railway gate and collided with the speeding Bangalore-Nanded Express," he said, on condition of anonymity.

While six people, including a lawmaker of the state's opposition Congress party Venkatesh Naik, were killed on the spot, those injured have been admitted to a nearby hospital, the official said.

Local TV channels showed footage of four coaches of the train that derailed due to the impact of the collision and reported that train movement have been affected in the region for hours due to the incident.

"Indian Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu is monitoring the situation closely," Anil Saxena, a spokesperson for the Indian Railways, told the media in the national capital.

India's state-owned railways operates 12,000 passenger trains and carries over 23 million passengers daily.

But it's safety record is questionable -- there has been little investment in upgrading decaying tracks and signals and the country lags behind on anti-collision technologies.

Earlier this month, at least 36 people were killed when two trains derailed within minutes of each other while crossing a small bridge near Harda town in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.

In March this year, a passenger train had derailed near a village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, killing at least 34 people. Endi