Truck ploughs into Indian farmers, 14 killed

A truck has ploughed into a group of farmers, who gathered outside a police station, killing 14 people in India in what police say is an accident involving a drunk driver.

The speeding truck rammed into an electricity pole before hitting the farmers, some of whom were electrocuted on Friday.

Seventeen people were hurt in the incident in Chittoor district in the southeastern state of Andhra Pradesh, said Superintendent of Police R Jayalakshmi.

"The driver of the lorry was drunk - he drove in a rash manner and hit an electrical pole just next to the police station," Jayalakshmi told Reuters by telephone.

There was no indication that the deaths of the farmers who had gathered on the road outside the police station was anything but an accident, she said. "There is no terror link. It is a pure accident case. He is a local driver."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences: "Pained by the loss of lives in an accident," he said in a tweet. "Condolences to families of the deceased and prayers with the injured."

There has been a series of ram-raiding attacks by Islamist militants in Europe in recent months, raising concern of copycat attacks elsewhere.