Ten children were among 18 people killed when a tractor-trolley in which they were travelling skidded off the road and fell into a deep, water-filled ditch in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district Monday night, police said.

Fourteen people were also injured in the accident that occurred in Pisawan town in Sitapur district, some 80 km from Lucknow.

District police chief Amitabh Yash told IANS on telephone: 'It appears that the accident occurred while the driver of the tractor-trolley tried to overtake a vehicle. In the process, the tractor-trolley lost control and fell into a water-filled ditch along the road.'

'Of the 18 killed, 10 are children while the remaining are women,' Circle Officer M.P. Singh said.

The injured have been admitted to a hospital in Sitapur.