At least six people have been killed and several others have been seriously injured after a minibus fell off a flyover on to the tracks of the Howrah railway station.

The freak accident took place shortly after 4 pm on Saturday. The minibus skidded off the Bankim Setu, a flyover adjacent to the Howrah station.

The bus fell several metres below on the tracks between Platforms 11 and 12.

"The bus was trying to overtake and it slipped off the flyover as it was raining. There were many passengers in the bus," said an eyewitness.

Rescue operations were slowed down initially by bad weather conditions, but all the people inside the minibus have now been taken out. The injured have been taken to hospital.

PTI adds:

The bus coming to Howrah from Nazirganj dashed against the railing of the flyover and fell 40 feet below when its driver lost control over the speeding vehicle, Howrah District Magistrate Sanghamitra Ghosh said.

She said that 12 passengers were seriously injured in the accident. Earlier, the police had said that 10 persons were feared killed in the accident and the injured were rushed to hospital.

A medical team and senior officers were rushed to the spot.

As a precautionary measure, the railway authorities switched off high tension power supply to platforms 10 to 23 while only the down Himgiri Express was allowed to enter platform number 18.

However, local train services from platforms number one to five were unaffected.