In a major mishap, at least 20 people, most of them tribals, were killed and 40 others injured when a tractor overturned at Kalyanpur in Rayagada district, nearly 450 km from here, on Friday evening.
According to reports, the victims were returning to their village, Hiranpadu, after attending a marriage ceremony at Seriguma.
“The mishap occurred when one of the two front wheels blew out. The vehicle was then climbing down a ghat road,” one of the survivors said. The local villagers rescued at least 10 people who were trapped under the vehicle by pulling them out by lifting the automobile with ropes and logs.
The injured were immediately rushed to the Rayagada district headquarters hospital.