Death toll in UP's Kasganj road accident rises to 24

The death toll in this morning's road accident in Uttar Pradesh's Kasganj district has risen to 24 from 15 as reported earlier. The deceased, including eight children, died when their tractor-trolley overturned and fell into a pond in Kasganj, police said.

The police also said 15 to 20 people were injured in the accident, which occurred on the Patiyali-Dariyavganj road in the Patiyali police station area when the occupants of the tractor-trolley were going to take a bath in the river Ganga.

Inspector-general of Aligarh range Shalabh Mathur said chief minister Yogi Adityanath has condoled the loss of lives in the accident and announced financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured.

"Twenty-four people died when the tractor-trolley overturned and fell into the seven to eight-foot deep pond while the driver was trying to overtake another vehicle. Around 15-20 people were injured and have been hospitalised," Mathur told PTI.

He added that the deceased included eight children. "The tractor-trolley was coming from Jaithara in Etah district. I am going to the spot with the divisional commissioner (of Aligarh)," Mathur said, adding that the bodies of the deceased would be handed over to their families after post-mortem.

According to the police, 22 of those who died in the accident have been identified as Guddi (75), Shakuntala (70), Meera (65) wife of Digvijay, Meera (55) wife of Rajpal, Gayatri (52), Pushpa (45), Shyamlata (40), Shivam (30), Shivani (25), Anjali (24), Jyoti (24), Ushma (24), Sapna (22), Deeksha (19), Sunaina (10), Kuldeep (7), Devanshi (6), Sandhya (5), Kartik (4), Laddu (3), Siddhu (one-and-half years) and Payal (two months). Two other bodies are yet to be identified, police said.

In a post on X, Adityanath said, "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."

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 expressed sadness over the incident. In a post on X in Hindi, Yadav said, "Very sad! The news of a large number of casualties in Kasganj when a tractor-trolley loaded with devotees returning after taking a bath in the Ganga overturned in a pond is extremely sad. Save people's lives by speeding up relief work. Wish for the speedy recovery of the injured."

He added that the government should give appropriate compensation to the families of the deceased.

Mayawati, in a post on X in Hindi, said, "The news of the death of about 22 devotees and injuries to many others when a tractor-trolley overturned in a pond in Kasganj district of Uttar Pradesh is very sad. My deepest condolences to the bereaved family. The government must provide all possible help to the affected families as soon as possible."