Etah, UP, Jan 19 (UNI) At least 12 school children were killed and several others injured when their bus collided with a truck in dense fog in the Aliganj area of the district today, sending waves of grief across India. Etah district authorities have cancelled the recognition of the school -- J S Vidyaniketan. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "Anguished by the tragic accident in UP's Etah district. I share the pain of the bereaved families & condole passing away of young children. "I pray that those injured in the accident in Etah recover at the earliest," he said. The accident occurred near Asadnagar village under Aliganj Kotwali police station area in Etah. Though earlier the police confirmed 24 deaths, they later claimed that 13 people were killed, including 12 children and the bus driver. A total of 35 children were injured when the school bus collided with the truck on the Aliganj-Pataili road early this morning. The bus was carrying students to the school which had opened early morning despite the District Magistrate's orders to keep all schools closed in view of intense cold, officials said. District Magistrate Shambhu Nath put the toll at 13, including the driver, and said eight of them died on the spot. The injured students were rushed to nearby primary health centre from where 10 were referred to Medical College in Aligarh. The District Magistrate said, "Holidays were declared from January 18 to January 21 in all the schools. But it has to be probed why the school was opened and small children were asked to go to the school", On the directions of the District Magistrate, police registered a case against school owners Sudhir Kumar and Ajit Kumar along with Principal Govind Srivastava. Orders were also issued to cancel the recognition of the school. The dead were identified as Himanshu (9), Vikas (5), Lavish (11), Sunny (14), Anuj (10), Shivani (11), Kishen (6), Pankaj (13), Radhika (15), Nikki (12), Diksha (9), Rishabh (6) and driver Akash (40). Soon after getting the news, senior officials rushed to the accident spot and supervised rescue and relief operations. Vice-President M Hamid Ansari, expressing deep distress over the accident, prayed to the Almighty to give them strength and fortitude to withstand this immense loss. Congress president Sonia Gandhi, in a condolence message, said, "The accident claimed lives of children, which is an irreparable loss to their families.’’ Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav expressed deep grief over the death of children and directed the Divisional Commissioner and other officials to provide immediate free medical treatment to the injured children. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh also expressed condolence on the deaths. In another accident reported from Fatehgarh, nine children were injured when their school van collided with a tanker this morning. Reports said a vehicle was carrying children of BHL Public School when it collided with another at Eklehra hamlet of Kamphil in which nine children and the driver was injured. The injured were shifted to hospital and further legal action has been initiated against the driver. UNI MB SW RP1950