A city-based doctor couple and their 15-year-old daughter were killed when a train rammed into their car at an unmanned level crossing in Katwa’s Natungram on Monday morning.

The couple’s 18-year-old son, sitting in the rear with his sister, was critically injured.

Police said Ranadeb Ghosal, 45, wife Ipsita, 40, and daughter Rupsa were flung afar after the Howrah-bound local hit their Maruti 800, while son Ritam was trapped in the car. Ranadeb was driving the car, with Ipsita sitting by his side.

Ritam was taken to Katwa Sub-Divisional Hospital and later shifted to AMRI Hospital, in Calcutta.

A doctor at AMRI said he suffered serious multiple facial injuries, including multiple fractures of facial bones, and superficial injuries in the chest. “He is conscious and under observation in the Intensive Therapy Unit. Once the investigations are over, we will decide on the kind of surgical intervention he needs,” said the doctor.

The Ghosals left their Lake Gardens house on Sunday evening for Swami Pragyadas Kathiababa’s ashram in Katwa’s Purbasthali, 170 km from Calcutta. Family sources said the Ghosals had planned to offer puja at the ashram — the couple took diksha from Kathiababa four years ago — after Ritam scored 85 per cent marks in his Higher Secondary exams.

It was during their return journey on Monday morning that the family met with the accident, at a spot hardly 500 metres from the ashram.

“The doctor could not see the train as it was raining and the car windows were rolled up. As he drove through the unmanned level crossing between Agradwip and Patuli around 6.10am, the train rammed into the car. The Maruti was tossed into the air and the mangled remains — with the boy trapped inside — landed at least 20 yards away,” a police officer said.

There was, however, another version of the events leading to the mishap. Local resident Dinabandhu Mondal said he had seen the wheels of several vehicles getting trapped in the gap between the tracks and the paved edge of the road.

“The level crossing is ill-maintained and as a result, there are craters between the tracks and the road. The wheels of the Ghosals’ car might have got stuck in a crater,” said Mondal.

Devotees from the ashram rushed to the spot on hearing the loud crash. They found the bodies of Ranadeb, Ipsita and Rupsa lying along the tracks. Ritam, blood-soaked, was screaming in the car.

One of the devotees, Madhab Biswas, recognised them. “They visited the ashram frequently,” said Biswas.

A team from Katwa police station, 20 km away, arrived around 8am. Rupsa and Ritam were taken to Katwa Sub-Divisional Hospital, where the sister was declared dead on arrival.

The villagers, however, refused to hand over the bodies of the doctor couple to the police and blocked the tracks, demanding that railway personnel be posted at the level crossing. They also demanded that the pathway at the crossing be repaired. The bodies of Ranadeb and Ipsita were taken to the sub-divisional hospital after the blockade was lifted at 2pm, following the intervention of senior officers.

“Let alone cars, we get stuck while crossing the tracks even on bicycles. Such mishaps will keep recurring unless the crossing is manned,” said Amal Majhi, a villager. “I will convey the villagers’ demand to the authorities,” said Shankar Singh, the superintendent of railway police, Howrah.