LUCKNOW: A major tragedy struck the western UP district of Kasganj claiming 24 lives -- including those of women and children -- and left many injured after the tractor-trolley in which they were travelling fell into a pond on Saturday morning.
The tractor trolley, carrying around 50 people from Jaithara and two more villages of Etah district, was heading towards river Ganga in Kadarganj locality. The passengers intended to take a holy dip there on the occasion of Magh Poornima.
Many trapped in the pond were rescued. The injured have been admitted to a local hospital, police said.
The accident took place on the Riyazganj-Patiyali link road near Gadhai village in Kasganj district.
As per local sources, the accident took place as the overloaded tractor-trolley was being driven at a high speed leading to the driver losing control. The rescue and relief operation continued till late evening.
Inspector General, Aligarh Range, Shalabh Mathur, told PTI, "The tractor-trolley overturned and fell into the 7-8-foot-deep pond while the tractor driver was trying to overtake another vehicle. Fifteen people -- seven children and eight women -- died in the accident. Around 15-20 people were injured and have been hospitalised."
"The tractor-trolley was coming from Jaithara in Etah district. I am going to the spot with the divisional commissioner (of Aligarh)," he said.
Mathur said the bodies will be handed over to the families of the deceased after the post-mortems.
The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to those killed and Rs 50,000 to those injured. In a post on X, Adityanath condoled the loss of lives in the accident.
"The loss of lives in a road accident in Kasganj district is extremely heart-wrenching. My condolences are with the bereaved families. District administration officials have been instructed to provide proper free treatment to all the injured. I pray to Lord Shri Ram to grant peace to the departed souls and speedy recovery to the injured," he noted.
According to divisional commissioner Ravendra Kumar, over 50 persons were on board the tractor trolley and so far 22 bodies extracted from the pond have been identified.