Mumbai, Jan 5 (IANS) In a gruesome tragedy, 16 people, mainly farm labourers from Karnataka, were killed and another 28 injured when the tempo in which they were travelling overturned near Sholapur early Tuesday, police said.
The incident occurred on the Solapur-Akkalkot highway around 1.30 a.m. when the driver of the tempo suddenly lost control and the vehicle overturned, an official of the Sholapur police control room said.

As the vehicle overturned, many of the victims got trapped under bags of grain and their luggage which prevented them from escaping and caused their death.

The police official said that a majority of the victims ware from Afzalpur and Gangapur regions of Karnataka and were proceeding to work in Pen, Raigad district, around 100 km from Mumbai.

Hundreds of villagers from nearby rushed to help the victims and shifted them to local hospitals for treatment.

The victims include five men, five women, three boys and three girls, police said. The Maharashtra police are coordinating with the Karnataka police to contact the families of the victims.

The condition of 18 of the injured is stated to be serious and the toll could rise, police said.

Meanwhile, the police have alerted all nearby districts to be on the lookout for the driver of the ill-fated vehicle who survived the accident and is absconding.