The SUV was crossing the railroad track in Jharkhand state when it was hit by the passenger train late Monday night, said S.N. Pradhan, a top police officer.
The dead included five children.
Pradhan said police were investigating claims by witnesses that a tire of the SUV became stuck in the track, and that the vehicle was struck before people could clamber out.
Railway accidents are common in India, which has one of the world's largest train networks serving about 23 million passengers a day.
There are nearly 15,000 unmanned crossings on Indian railways and hundreds of people are killed at the crossings every year.
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