More than 33 people were killed and 35 others injured in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh when a train hit a bus at an unmanned level-crossing on Thursday morning.

The accident took place at Kanshiramnagar at around 2 a.m. (2030GMT) local time when the train was on its way from Mathura to Chhapra in Bihar. The train apparently rammed into the bus when the bus's axle broke on the crossing causing a sudden halt. The train dragged the bus up to 500 meters on the tracks.

The bus was carrying a marriage party from Adupura village in Dariyawganj.

Though, the capacity of the bus is limited to around 50 only, there were around 100 passengers in the over-loaded bus. Nearly 30 passengers were sitting on the roof, said officials.

TV grabs showed bizarre scenes after the accident with policemen carrying several bodies on stretchers from the bus wreckage.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is also holding the railway portfolio, has announced a relief of Rs 200,000 for the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the seriously injured.

India has a massive state-run railway network but with poor safety standards. Last year more than 100 people were killed when a Mumbai-bound express train jumped off the tracks into the path of an oncoming goods train in West Bengal. The tracks had been apparently sabotaged by Maoist rebels.

In July, more than 60 people were killed when two trains collided at a station in West Bengal.

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