The Bihar government on Thursday announced an ex gratia payment of ₹2 lakh to the next kin of the 53 people from the State who died in the train accident in Odisha's Balasore district on June 2.
Two hundred and eighty-eight people were killed when the Coromandel Express crashed into a stationary goods train, derailing most of its coaches at 7 p.m. on June 2. A few coaches of Coromandel toppled over the last few coaches of the Bengaluru-Howrah Express which was passing by at the same time.
According to a statement issued by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s office here on Thursday, the government has announced an ex gratia payment of ₹2 lakh to the next kin of the 53 people from the State who died in the triple train accident. Besides, the Chief Minister also announced ₹50,000 to each injured passenger from the State.
At least 53 people from different Bihar districts have died and 62 sustained injuries in the accident, according to the State Disaster Management Department (DMD).
“A team of DMD is providing all assistance to the officials concerned of the Odisha government in ascertaining the identity of bodies of the unidentified passengers who died in the accident. DNA samples of the relatives of the deceased are also being taken on for further matching with the samples of the unidentified bodies. Several people from Bihar, who were on board the Coromandel Express, are still missing”, said the DMD’s latest statement.
"The Bihar government has already sent a team of officials to Balasore to provide necessary assistance to train passengers hailing from Bihar. A decision has also been taken to send two more officials of the DMD to Balasore. There are at least 30 injured passengers from Bihar who are still undergoing treatment in different hospitals in Odisha", said the statement issued by the Chief Minister's office.
