Indian bus crash kills at least 17

DELHI, India (CNN) -- A passenger train collided with a bus loaded with college students and teachers in northern India Friday, killing at least 17 people and critically injuring many more, according to the Press Trust of India.

A thick fog apparently kept the bus driver from seeing the approaching train at a railway crossing, although there was a closed gate that should have prevented it from reaching the tracks, a Northern Railway spokesman said.

It is believed all of the dead and injured were on the small bus, which carried as many as 35 people, police said.

The accident happened in the small town of Moga in India's Punjab state, the Press Trust said.

The train, known as the Satluj Express, began its journey in Ludhiana and was bound for Ferozepur, the railway spokesman said. E-mail to a friend

CNN New Delhi Bureau Chief Phil Turner contributed to this report