Twenty-four people were killed, and half a dozen were injured after a tractor trolley overturned and fell into a pond alongside the Patiali-Dariyavganj road within limits of Patiali police station of Kasganj district of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday morning, police said.
Those in the tractor trolley were heading to take a holy bath in river Ganga in Kasganj on the auspicious occasion of Magh Poornima.
According to police, there were more than 30 people in the trolley that overturned at about 10 am on Saturday. However, if villagers are to be believed, there were more than 50 in the ill-fated trolley.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the tragic incident and ordered the officials concerned to rush to the spot to ensure speedier rescue operation. Compensation of ₹2 Lakh each was declared for the kin of the deceased and ₹50,000 each was granted for the injured.
‘Twenty-four were killed in a tragic incident when a tractor trolley overturned and fell in a roadside pond. Exact reasons are yet to be known and the total number of those who were in the trolley is yet to be ascertained but prima facie it is believed that there were more than 30 villagers in the trolley,” said inspector general (IG), Aligarh Range, Shalabh Mathur, who reached the spot.
“About four to six of those rescued but unconscious were admitted in the District Hospital at Kasganj. Divers were deployed to trace those who fell in the pond and were missing,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“About four to six of those rescued but unconscious were admitted in the District Hospital at Kasganj. Divers were deployed to trace those who fell in the pond and were missing,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Half of those dead were women and eight were children amongst the two-dozen dead in the accident.
Those in the tractor trolley were mainly from village Nagla Kasa within limits of Jainthra police station of Etah district. The visit to Kasganj was not planned but availability of tractor trolley prompted villagers to join for a visit to river Ganga in Kasganj on the auspicious occasion of ‘Magh Poornima’ on Saturday, said a villager, who reached the spot after hearing about the accident.
Many of them had plans for having the ritual of ‘mundan’ (shaving of head) on the banks of river Yamuna on the auspicious day. The villagers were mainly from Nagla Kasa besides a few from Banar and Khiria villages of Etah district.
The pond in which the tractor trolley fell had 7 to 8-feet deep water, but the sand deposition made things tough for rescuers from nearby villages who called for JCB by the time police reached the spot.
“Bodies trapped in muddy water hit our legs as if they were large stones . The sensation sent a chill down the spine but we continued searching holding each other’s hands because the water was deep,” said Abhishek Pandey, a villager involved in the search and rescue efforts.