At least 14 women agriculture workers were killed and several others injured when a tractor plunged into a canal in Telangana's Yadadri district on Sunday.
The police said that the incident occurred when the tractor fell in Musi canal near Veligonda.
According to the police, the tractor driver lost control of the vehicle while trying to avoid a motorcycle coming in the opposite direction. The injured were shifted to nearby hospitals.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao also took note of the accident and expressed his grief and shock over the incident.
Extending his condolences to the kin of the deceased, he ordered the state government to ensure that all necessary medical treatment was provided to the injured.
According to reports, state Energy Minister G Jagadishwar Reddy also spoke to the District Collectors of Nalgonda and Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri districts and asked them to rush to the spot and supervise relief work. Assistant Commissioner of Police S Ramesh is also at the site of the accident, to oversee the work.
The death toll may rise as the condition of some of the injured is stated to be critical. It is still unclear if the driver also suffered injuries in the accident.
In April this year, at least nine agricultural labourers were killed and 15 injured when a tractor plunged into a canal in Telangana’s Nalgonda district.
The accident occurred near Vaddipatla, about 130 km from Hyderabad, and the tractor, which was carrying about 30 labourers, fell into the MR Canal after the driver lost control of the vehicle.
The incident near Vaddipatla had followed close on the heels of an accident where an auto rickshaw fell into an open roadside well in Telangana’s Nizamabad district, killing 11 people, including 6 children.
With IANS inputs