CHITRAKOOT: Four people, including two children, were killed and 12 others injured after a tractor-trolley overturned on a national highway in Uttar Pradesh's Chitrakoot district, officials said on Monday.

The accident took place around 2.30 am near Ramnagar in Mau tehsil, District Magistrate Pulkit Garg said.

According to the DM, the victims were returning after visiting religious places in Chitrakoot when the vehicle's coupling mechanism (hook) came off, causing the trolley to lose control and overturn on the roadside.

The occupants were trapped underneath the overturned trolley, he said.

"Immediately after receiving information about the accident, UP-112, Raipura police and officers deployed on fair duty rushed to the spot and carried out relief and rescue operations," Garg said.

"The injured were taken to the Community Health Centre in Ramnagar, where doctors declared four people -- two men and two children -- dead," he said.

"Of the 12 injured, seven are seriously injured while five have sustained minor injuries," the DM said, adding that all of them were referred to a higher medical centre in Prayagraj after primary treatment.

The tractor-trolley was carrying around 25 people, including members of one family hailing from Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district, according to the DM.