New Delhi: At least 26 people were killed and several critically injured when a tractor-trolley carrying devotees overturned and fell into a pond near a village in Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday evening.
Police said most of the victims were women and children and the death toll is likely to go up.
The incident took place near Bhadeuna village located within the Saar police station limits, a senior police official said.
The tractor-trolley, carrying about 50 people, was on its way to Ghatampur after the passengers attended a “mundan” ceremony at the Chandrika Devi temple in Fatehpur, he said.
He added that more than a dozen people were killed on the spot.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have expressed grief over the incident.
“Distressed by the tractor-trolley mishap in Kanpur. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their near and dear ones. Prayers with the injured. The local administration is providing all possible assistance to the affected,” Modi said in a tweet.
UP CM Yogi Adityanath has sent ministers Rakesh Sachan and Ajit Pal to the accident site to speed up the rescue operation.
An eyewitness told reporters that he, along with others, rushed to the site after hearing the cries of men, women and children for help.
The locals immediately jumped into the water and somehow managed to pull out the victims, some of whom were already dead, he said.
The injured were taken to the community health centre (CHC) at Bheetergaon, where some of them were declared brought dead, he added.
GSVM Medical College principal Sanjay Kala told reporters that several of the injured have been referred to the Lala Lajpat Rai (LLR) Hospital.
According to officials, the injured were first rushed to the Bheetergaon CHC in ambulances arranged by police and more than a dozen were declared dead at the facility.
In a similar accident on the outskirts of the state capital recently, 10 people were killed and 37 injured when the tractor-trolley in which they were travelling overturned.