Hyderabad: Fifteen persons, including 14 women farm workers and a four-year-old boy were killed and 10 others injured after the tractor-trolley they were travelling in fell into a canal in neighbouring Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district on Sunday, police said.
The mishap occured when the driver lost control of the tractor trolley and it plunged into the Musi river canal at Nandanam village in Valigonda mandal of the district at around 10 AM.
Two men in the group escaped unhurt, they said.
A hunt has been launched to nab the driver who fled the scene soon after the mishap, they said.
District Revenue Officer Ravula Mahendar Reddy said preliminary investigation revealed that the driver's negligence was the reason for the accident.
"Only after he is caught and questioned will the cause of the mishap be known," he said.
A total of 28 people, most of them women, were travelling in the tractor-trolley for cotton picking in nearby villages,Reddy told PTI over phone.
Rachakonda Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) G Sudheer Babu said the driver was taking the women farm workers to a field which he had taken on lease for cotton plucking.
He quoted villagers as having told police that the driver had lit a cigarette when he lost control of the tractor trolley and it fell off the bund into the nearby roadside canal. However this was yet to be verified, he said.
"The tractor-trolley turned turtle after falling in the stagnant water and the occupants died as they were unable to come out of it due to its impact".
A case has been registered against the driver under Section 304, part II of IPC, (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) against the driver.
Telangana Energy Minister G Jagadeeshwar Reddy visited the spot and enquired about the condition of the injured admitted to the hospital at nearby Valigonda.
Following the deaths,g overnment announced an ex-gratia of Rs three lakh to each of the families of the deceased, a two bedroom hall kitchen house for them and to take care of the educational expenses of the children
However, a large number of villagers, including some relatives of the deceased, gathered near the hospital and staged protests, demanding higher compensation.
Mild tension prevailed near the hospital for some time after they raised slogans like 'We want justice' even as police had a tough time in dispersing them.
The protestors prevented an ambulance going outside the hospital and also jostled with the police personnel.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao expressed deep shock over the accident.
In a message, he conveyed his condolences to the families of the bereaved. He also directed the officials concerned to provide better medical care to the injured.
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