A wrecked bus stands next to the train than hit it in Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on Thursday as police officers inspect the scene of the fatal accident. [Zhang Wande/For China Daily]

URUMQI - Three people were killed and 85 injured when a train slammed into a runaway bus on Thursday morning in the capital of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the local rescue center said.

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Among the injured in Urumqi, 10 were in serious condition. At least 41 of those hurt in the collision were children, sources with the Urumqi Rescue Center said.

The three dead - two women and a man - were all adults.

The accident happened at 9:07 am when the runaway No 531 bus that was fully loaded with nearly 90 passengers hurtled onto train tracks and was hit by a passenger train.

"I just couldn't stop the bus," the driver told a local radio station reporter before he was taken away by police for questioning.

"The brakes were not working. I drove the bus to the railway side to keep it away from pedestrians and wire poles on the left. I didn't know the train was coming."

The driver suffered only minor injuries in the incident.

The Urumqi Emergency Center dispatched ambulances to the scene and the injured were taken to four local hospitals for treatment.

"The bus was fully loaded and many of the passengers jumped out of windows before the train hit," said a local storekeeper, who gave his surname as Xiao.

"It was a total mess. Some nearby residents joined in the rescue and some of the injured were rushed to hospitals by passers-by."

A 7-year-old Uygur boy who was hurt in the crash waits for an X-ray to assess his injuries at the Urumqi Armed Police Hospital on Thursday. [Liu Xin/China News Service]

Because the accident happened during the morning rush hour, many of the passengers on the bus were students on their way to school.

"My two sons took the bus. They left home and went to school at around 8:30 am. My heart was broken when I went to the scene and saw them lying down and waiting for the ambulance," a middle-aged Uygur man named Ishanjan told China Daily.

Abuduaili, his 16-year-old elder son, suffered a hand fracture. He recalled the "horrible experience" of the crash.

"I saw the green train rushing toward us," he said from the hospital. "I was so frightened that I couldn't move. Someone grabbed me out of the broken window and saved me."

His younger brother was not so lucky.

Abuduwaili, 11, a pupil at Urumqi No 43 School, underwent nearly three hours of surgery.

"His legs were broken but he is in good condition now," said a doctor.

The No 531 bus route, which is managed by a private company named Urumqi Xukairui Investment Co Ltd, is the only one that runs from the city's western suburbs to the downtown.

Some residents complained that buses used on No 531 route were too old.

"Our hospital received the 10 most seriously injured people and we are trying our best to save them," said an official with the Urumqi Armed Police Hospital who refused to give his name.

Urumqi Military General Hospital also called on people to donate blood.

"After the accident, more than 130 people came to our station to donate blood. Each of them donated 300 to 400 milliliters of blood to those injured," said a staff member at the hospital.

"We were lucky to find one donor to donate blood to an injured Uygur student who has type O blood with Rh negative," she added.