Gujarat factory blast: Death toll mounts to 21, Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia announced for next of kin
PTC News Desk: The death toll in Banaskantha firecracker factory blast has risen to 21. Banaskantha Collector Mihir Pravinkumar Patel said that most of the deceased workers were residents from the Dewas and Harda districts in Madhya Pradesh. He further said that the identification process of the deceased has been completed and the bodies are being sent back to their native places.
"Majority of the deceased workers were from Dewas and Harda district of MP. The minister (Chouhan Nagar Singh), senior officers, and local administration officers from MP arrived here last night. The families of the deceased were also present at Deesa Civil Hospital yesterday," Patel said.
He further stated, "After completing the identification process of the 10 people from the Dewas district in the presence of their family members, the deceased were sent to their native land in ambulances. A local administration team from the Harda district has also reached Deesa Civil Hospital. After the identification process, the eight deceased from the Harda district will also be sent to their native place."
Madhya Pradesh CM Chouhan Nagar Singh said that both MP and Gujarat CMs, teams from MP and Gujarat are working in close coordination to facilitate relief work.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the incident and announced an ex-gratia of 2 lakh rupees to the next of kin of each deceased and 50,000 rupees to the injured.
- With inputs from agencies
