NEW DELHI - A school bus carrying dozens of pupils collided with a truck in northern India on Thursday, killing 13 people, officials said.

Twelve of the dead were children aged between seven to 14 years, who were seated near the front of the bus, when an oncoming truck collided with it in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

The school bus driver also died in the crash, the latest deadly accident in a country with one of the worst road safety records.

“The death toll is 13 and some 11 people are in hospital undergoing treatment,” Shambu Nath, the local district magistrate, told AFP. “At least 28 were discharged after first aid.”

Uttar Pradesh’s director general of police Javeed Ahmad had earlier tweeted more than 15 children were killed in the accident.

Ahmad’s spokesman Rahul Srivastava told AFP that the figure was a result of “confusion and chaos” that followed the accident.

Nath said authorities suspect the vehicles were speeding in foggy conditions.

The driver of the truck is in critical condition, he added.

The authorities have also charged the school management with disobeying an official edict after apparently defying a government order to shut during an ongoing cold spell.

Road accidents killed nearly 150,000 people in India last year, around 400 a day, according to data from the highways ministry.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his condolences to the victims’ families, saying he was “anguished by the tragic accident”.