Death toll in UP's Kasganj road accident rises to 24; CM announces compensation
Kasganj (UP), Feb 24: Twenty-four people, including eight children, died when their tractor-trolley overturned and fell into a pond in Uttar Pradesh's Kasganj district on Saturday morning, police said.
They said 15 to 20 people were injured in the accident that occurred on the Patiyali-Dariyavganj road under the Patiyali police station area when the occupants of the tractor-trolley were going to take a bath in the Ganga river.
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 examination.
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."
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Trump says he ‘hasn’t even thought about’ continuing Iran ceasefire
Washington: US President Donald Trump has said he has not yet considered whether he would continue the ceasefire involving Iran, while also claiming the United States holds the advantage in negotiations.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said he was prepared to make a deal with “whoever is running the show” in Iran.
“They are fighting with each other, there’s tremendous infighting. They’re probably fighting for leadership in many cases. I think they’re fighting not to be leader because we knocked out two levels of leaders,” he said.
Trump added, “When they want they can call me. We have all the cards, we’ve won everything.”
Referring to ongoing negotiations, he said, “They gave us a paper that should’ve been better. And, interestingly, immediately when I cancelled it [envoy trip to Pakistan], within 10 minutes we got a new paper that was much better.”
“We talked about they will not have a nuclear weapon, very simple … They offered a lot, but not enough,” he added.
When asked whether he would continue the ceasefire, Trump replied, “I haven’t even thought about it.”
The remarks come as uncertainty remains over the future of the temporary truce and broader negotiations between Washington and Tehran.
