A railway official says 21 people have died after a passenger train hit an overloaded rickshaw at a railway crossing in the eastern Indian state of Bihar.

Vinod Kumar said all the passengers and the driver of the motorized rickshaw died in the accident that occurred late Monday.

The crossing gate was open and the rickshaw was crossing the track when the train hit it, dragging it for about 500m, Kumar said.

Among the dead were seven children and six women. They were returning from offering prayers at a temple near Motihari, a town in Bihar.

Railway accidents are common in India, which has one of the world's largest networks. More than 23 million passengers daily use India's 11,000 passenger trains.