One girl (eight) has died and her friend (11) is fighting for her life after a freak accident on a Cork farm last night.

The accident took place shortly after 7pm yesterday in the Newtownshandrum area of Charleville in Co Cork. It is understood that the girls were playing on the farm when the bucket on a tractor unexpectedly fell on them.

The eight year old was pronounced dead at the scene from severe head and chest injuries while the 11 year old was rushed to Cork University Hospital where her condition is being described as critical. She is being treated for serious head injuries.

The farm is being rented by the family of the 11 year old. The family is originally from Latvia.

The Health and Safety Authority have been informed and will carry out an investigation in the coming days as is standard procedure.

This deaths brings to 23 the number of people who have died on farms in 2014. Machinery and tractors account for more than half of all deaths on farms in the past 10 years.