Six schoolchildren and a driver were killed while 11 others were injured when a bus collided with a school van in Satna district on Thursday.

Five children were among those injured and two of them are critical, police said.

The police had earlier said eight persons, including seven schoolchildren, had been killed.

“Six children — four boys and two girls — aged between 10 and 15 years — travelling in the school van and its driver were killed on the spot when they were on their way to school,” Satna superintendent of police Santosh Singh Gaur said.

The accident took place around 8.30am, he said, adding that the school van had got mangled.

The deceased children were students of Lucky Convent School in Birsinghpur, about 40km from the district headquarters.

An injured student being shifted to a hospital after the accident at Birsinghpur in Satna district on Thursday. (PTI)

According to Gaur, both the van and the bus turned turtle after the accident. The bus was going to Chitrakoot from Rewa.

“Five students and half a dozen passengers of the bus were injured and have been admitted to hospital. While the bus passengers suffered minor injuries, two of the students are critical,” the SP said.

According to Gaur, a magisterial inquiry has been ordered.

Senior police and government officials, including collector Rahul Jain, rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation.

The district collector announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to each of the injured.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan expressed condolences to the families of the victims. In a tweet, Congress president Rahul Gandhi expressed grief and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.