A tractor trolley filled with devotees fell into a pond in Kasganj, Uttar Pradesh, 15 people lost their lives. Loktej Regional News

Kasganj, 24 February (HS). A major accident took place on Saturday morning on Patiali Daryaganj road in Kasganj district of Uttar Pradesh. A tractor trolley loaded with about 40 devotees who were going to take a bath in the Ganga from district Etah fell into the pond. The deaths of 15 people have been confirmed in the accident. Many children are also included in the dead. As soon as information about the accident was received, the administrative staff reached the spot. People are being evacuated from the pond by conducting a rescue operation. The Chief Minister directed the officials to provide financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to the dependents of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each to the injured for better treatment.

40 devotees, residents of villages Khiriya and Kasa located in Jaithra police station of district Etah, were going to Kadarganj Ghat in a tractor trolley to take bath in the Ganga on the occasion of Magh Purnima on Saturday. A tractor trolley filled with devotees went out of control and fell into the pond near Nagla Paji on Patiali Dariyavganj road in Kasganj district. There was an outcry after the incident.

On information from passers-by, police and health department teams reached the spot and rescue operation was started. 15 people died by drowning in the pond. Many children are included in the dead. The injured were taken to the hospital. CMO Dr. Rajeev Kumar Aggarwal has confirmed the death of 15 people.

On getting information about the incident, DM Sudha Verma, SP Aparna Rajat Kaushik along with SDM, CO, Inspector reached the spot. The devotees were taken out of the pond with the help of local people and divers. Continuous efforts are being made to identify them.

The bodies have been sent to the district headquarters for post-mortem. Many people are serious and have been admitted to the district hospital. No list has yet been released by the district administration regarding the dead. Rescue work is going on at the spot. There is a possibility of the death toll in the accident increasing.

Chief Minister expressed grief

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has taken cognizance of the Kasganj accident. He has given instructions to give an assistance amount of Rs 2 lakh each to the family members of the deceased in the accident and Rs 50 thousand to the seriously injured. The Chief Minister has instructed the district administration officials to reach the spot and speed up the relief work and immediately take the injured to the hospital and provide them proper treatment free of cost. Apart from this, he also wished for the speedy recovery of the injured.

Two government ministers reached the spot

Taking cognizance of the accident in Kasganj, the Yogi government has sent two ministers to the spot. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has sent Lakshminarayan Choudhary and Anup Valmiki to closely investigate the accident and meet the casualties. Both the ministers reached the spot and took information from the officials regarding the relief work and the incident and directed the officials to provide better treatment.

Akhilesh Yadav expressed grief over the incident

Samajwadi Party National President Akhilesh Yadav said that the news of large number of casualties due to overturning of tractor trolley of devotees in Kasganj is sad. Save people’s lives by doing relief work quickly. I wish for the speedy recovery of the injured.