More than dozen Hindu devotees die in India as farm tractor turns turtle

A farm tractor pulling a wagon loaded with Hindu devotees overturned and fell into a pond in northern India killing at least 15 people, including seven children, officials have said.

The wagon was carrying around 40 devotees on the way to take a ritual bath in the Ganges River when it veered off the road in Kasganj district of Uttar Pradesh state, police said on Saturday. Over a dozen others were injured, some seriously.

Authorities have banned tractor-pulled wagons for transporting passengers, but the order is generally flouted in rural India.

In 2022, 26 people were killed in a similar accident also in Uttar Pradesh.

Police officer Aparna Kaushik said an initial investigation indicated that the tractor was travelling at a considerable speed before the driver lost control. It wasn't clear if the driver had survived.

India has some of the highest road death rates in the world, with hundreds of thousands of people killed and injured annually. Most crashes are blamed on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and ageing vehicles.