As many as 22 people, including eight children, died when their tractor-trolley overturned and fell into a pond in Kasganj district of Uttar Pradesh state of India.
According to the police, the vehicle was carrying at least 30 people — most of them from the state’s Etah district— who were heading to take a dip in the Ganga to mark Magh Poornima
Twenty-three people, including eight children, were killed on Saturday after a tractor-trolley overturned and fell in a pond in Kasganj district of Uttar Pradesh, police officers familiar with the matter said.
According to the police, the vehicle was carrying at least 30 people — most of them from the state’s Etah district— who were heading to take a dip in the Ganga to mark Magh Poornima.
“The exact reason for the mishap is yet to be established and the total number of those travelling in the trolley is also yet to be ascertained, but prima facie it is believed that there were more than 30 villagers in the trolley. Divers were deployed to trace those who fell in the pond and were missing,” inspector general (IG), Aligarh range Shalabh Mathur said.
He added that at least four people were rescued and were admitted to the Kasganj District Hospital.
According to the officials, the pond in which the vehicle fell is roughly 8-feet deep but sand deposition hampered rescue efforts.
Praveen Kumar, who owns a brick kiln located around a kilometre from the accident site, said police asked him to reach the spot with a JCB machine to help dig out the sand and assist in the rescue efforts.
“We helped fish out 13 bodies. We sent the injured to the hospital on whatever vehicles were plying on the road at that time,” he said.
Political leaders cutting across party lines expressed grief over the accident.
“The accident that took place when a tractor trolley fell into a pond in Kasganj, Uttar Pradesh is saddening. My condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. Along with this, I wish for the speedy recovery of the injured. Under the supervision of the state government, the local administration is engaged in providing all possible help to the victims,” the office of Prime Minister Narendra Modi quoted him as saying in post on X.
In a separate post, the PMO said: “An ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased in the mishap in Kasganj. The injured would be given Rs. 50,000.” Chief minister Yogi Adityanath also expressed grief over the incident and announced a compensation of ₹2 lakh each for the family of those who have died, and ₹50,000 each for the injured.—Agencies
