Twenty-four people died in an accident Monday in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh when a tractor-trolley skidded off a road and fell into a deep, water- filled ditch, said the Indo-Asian News Service Tuesday.

The dead were 15 children and nine women who died at Pisawan town in Sitapur district, around 80 km from state capital Lucknow, said the report quoting police sources.

Eight others, including the driver of the tractor-trolley, were seriously injured in the accident and were being treated in hospital, said the report.

The riders on the tractor trolley were relatives who were returning from a family function.

Road accident rate in India is among the highest in the world, with some 100,000 killed every year, according to official estimates.