23 die as tractor-trolley plunges into pond in UP

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.

- Hemendra Chaturvedi

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.