Twenty-two people, including eight children, died when their tractor-trolley overturned and fell into a pond in Uttar Pradesh's Kasganj district on Saturday, officials said.
Earlier, Inspector General of Aligarh range Shalabh Mathur had said 24 passengers died in the accident and 15 to 20 people were injured.
However later, Relief Commissioner of Uttar Pradesh Naveen Kumar G.S., citing a statement of Kasganj Additional District Magistrate Rakesh Kumar Patel, said: “Twenty-two people died when the tractor-trolley overturned and fell into a pond. The deceased include 13 women, a man and eight children. Ten people are currently undergoing treatment.”
The Kasganj district administration said that ₹4 lakh will be provided to the kin of each of the deceased, while ₹50,000 will be provided to each of the injured persons.
Condolences pour in
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have condoled the loss of lives in the incident.
Mr. Modi said that ₹2 lakh ex-gratia from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) would be given to the next of kin of each deceased and the injured would be given ₹50,000.
The passengers of the ill-fated tractor-trolley belonged to Etah district and they were going to take a bath in the Ganga river on full moon.
According to the Kasganj district administration, information regarding the accident in Daryavganj village was received around 10 a.m. "A number of people died while others were injured. The injured were sent to the community health centres in Patiyali and Kasganj, and a government hospital in Kasganj," it said.
"The tractor-trolley was coming from Jaithara in Etah district. I am going to the spot with the divisional commissioner [of Aligarh]," Mr. Mathur had said earlier, adding that the bodies of the deceased would be handed over to their families after post-mortem.
President Droupadi Murmu termed deaths in the accident "heart-wrenching". In a post in Hindi on X, she said, "...I express my deepest condolences to the families who lost their loved ones and wish speedy recovery to those injured."
Terming the loss of lives as "heart-breaking" and "saddening", Prime Minister Modi said, "Heartbreaking! 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," he added in the post on X.
Mr. Adityanath too took to X to condole the deaths 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 said.
As locals searched for trapped children, a woman was seen wailing and searching for her child. An excavator was also pressed into action for the rescue work.
Praveen Kumar, a local involved in the initial rescue operation, told reporters that he fished out 15 bodies from the pond. "We sent the injured to hospital on whatever vehicles were plying on the road that time. The deceased were mostly women," he said.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati also expressed sadness over the incident.
