WARSAW: Eight people where killed and two wounded when a train hit a minibus on a level crossing in central Poland on Monday morning, Polish news channel TVN24 reported.

The minibus carrying ten people — eight women and two men — drove onto an unguarded crossing near the city of Lodz and was driven 30 metres down the tracks by the oncoming train, a local policeman told the broadcaster.

“The situation is under control now but the impact was so strong that we cannot even recognise the make of the car,” officer Krzysztof Zielinski said. “None of the train passengers were hurt.”

Two women from the bus with serious injuries were immediately transported to a local hospital.

It was the second accident in Poland involving a train this year. In March, 16 people died and 60 were injured in a head-on collision between two trains.