By Alok Mohit
PATNA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar have announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 5 lakh, respectively, to the kin of eight people who were killed in a road accident in Vaishali district’s Desari village on Sunday night.
“The accident in Vaishali, Bihar is saddening. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. An ex-gratia of ₹ 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given ₹ 50,000,” the Prime Minister said in tweet.
Nitish Kumar also expressed his condolences and said he is “deeply saddened” by the accident.
“I am pained by the incident of a speeding truck crushing many people, including children, in Desari police station area of Vaishali. I express my deep sympathy to the relatives of the deceased and announce an ex-gratia grant of Rs.5 lakh each. I have issued instructions for proper treatment of the injured and wish them a speedy recovery,” Kumar said in his Tweeter post.
Calling the accident “extremely painful”, President Droupadi Murmu wished speedy recovery to the injured. “The news of several casualties, including children, in a road accident in Vaishali, Bihar is extremely painful. I express my deepest condolences to the families who lost their loved ones in this accident and wish speedy recovery to those injured,” a tweet by the President of India said.
Eight people were killed and many others injured when the driver of a speeding truck lost control over the vehicle and rammed it into a religious procession at Desari village, about 44 km northeast of state capital Patna. The accident took place at around 9 pm on Sunday when the procession assembled in front of a “peepal” tree on the roadside to offer prayers to a local deity “Bhumiya Baba”.
A police officer in Hajipur, headquarters of Vaishali district, on Monday said seven of the victims were children. He said the truck driver, who was stuck in the mangled vehicle had been rescued and arrested for negligent and rash driving. The driver and other injured were undergoing treatment in Patna, he said.
The deceased had been identified as Varsha,8, Suruchi ,12, Anuskha, 8, Shivani, 8, Khushi, 10, Chandan Kumar, 20, Komal Kumari, 10, and Satish Kumar, 17, the officer said.
